Little by Little
by Little-Known-Artist
Summary: Post Manga. After the three year separation, Inuyasha and Kagome are finally together as a couple. There will be little bumps in the road along the way, but its all part of the learning experience. And they plan to learn everything about and every inch of the other-little by little.
1. Closing the Gap

**Little by Little**

* * *

**Closing the Gap**

Kagome stood up and grabbed Inuyasha's arm to get him up too.

"I want to go for a walk, we can come back any time, right?"

Kaede nodded. "If you do so quietly," she responded. She and Rin would probably be asleep by the time Inuyasha and Kagome returned.

Kagome smiled at the old woman before looking down at Inuyasha.

"C'mon."

Inuyasha blinked a few times.

"Sure," he muttered, following Kagome closely as they exited the hut.

Kagome slid her hand down his arm, finally ending at his hand and holding on gently. Inuyasha smiled; this was the first time they really got to be alone in almost three days' time. Everyone was so happy to see Kagome back. Sango and Miroku had introduced Kagome to their new additions and told Kagome all what had happened with them in that three years' time. They had even given Kagome a bit of what Inuyasha had been doing with his time. Inuyasha squawked when they had described his initial depression after she first disappeared, but they went on to explain all the good he had done. Inuyasha had become the official protector of the village, watching over it from his forest. He had flushed out any major predatory animals, and dealt with any demons stupid enough to enter his domain. The villagers also suspected he had something to do with the firewood that had mysteriously been laid out in the center of the village during a particularly rough winter.

Inuyasha shifted the grip, intertwining his fingers with Kagome's. Kagome smiled brighter, but her gaze fell to the ground in front of her as they walked along. Inuyasha realized after a few minutes that Kagome was leading him back to the Goshinboku. He glanced around when Kagome stopped suddenly. Inuyasha was puzzled when she pulled her hand away and turned to face him. She met his eyes for a brief second before turning her gaze off to the side. She was thinking of something.

With a huff she suddenly slipped her hands around Inuyasha's beads and yanked him down to her level. By the time Inuyasha figured out what was happening, Kagome was stepping off her tiptoes and pulling away from him. He blinked when his brain caught up to the moment. The shy peck did not match Kagome's flaming red face, and it wasn't what Inuyasha hoped for after a three year separation like they had had. Not remotely.

"_I might get scolded for this but…"_

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and ducked back down to kiss her again. He was more aggressive than she had been—a little rougher, a little sweeter—moving his lips over hers with a little more pressure. He let off the pressure before pulling away. Kagome smiled and draped her wrists over his neck.

The smile told him he wasn't going to get scolded for being too aggressive.

She stood on tiptoe to meet his lips again. His hands fell casually to the small of her back, crossing his fingers and holding her up against his body. She nipped his bottom lips at some point and Inuyasha fell over that edge. He growled and smirked against the corner of her mouth. He pressed against her more roughly and shifted the angle of their lips. Inuyasha didn't know what the hell he was doing, but he was enjoying it. If he went too far he would just have to trust Kagome to stop him.

When she need a break, she did stop him with a gentle hand against his face, a thumb on his cheekbone and pushed away slightly. Inuyasha's eyes fluttered open to see Kagome looking down from his eyes, bottom lip between her teeth. He relaxed his grip on her back and left his hands on her hips.

When too many seconds passed like this, Inuyasha started to panic. He just knew he fucked something up. He glanced in the direction he knew the well was in. If she became homesick—if she left now and leapt into the well—would it accept her back?

"_No, that's not even…"_ He scolded himself. Kagome was here now. She wasn't going to leave just because he did something stupid. And besides, Kagome had said herself the only reason the well worked that last time was because…

_I wanted to be with you._

Yeah. Kagome had said that. She meant it too.

When he finally regained his nerve, he started: "Kagome—" but was cut off.

"What are we doing, Inuyasha?"

He blinked. He wasn't about to make assumptions on what she meant, so he played dumb, answering the obvious.

"Well, we _were_ going for a walk. I'm not real sure what happened from there."

Her chuckle rid him of some of his unease.

"What I meant was…well…I…" she was struggling with the words.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Yeah..?"

"Mn…." Kagome bit her lip again.

Inuyasha turned his head away, focusing on some branches overhead.

"I'd hate to rush you, but…just say whatever it is."

Kagome took a deep breath.

"What I mean is…like…are we...? Do you…? Are we going to get married? Is that too soon or…?"

Kagome looked back up at Inuyasha's surprised face. He had never thought of it before. Well, sure, he knew he wanted to be with Kagome, but he never really thought about what that entailed. He should marry her, right? There was nothing much different about being married than what he hoped their life might be like. Yeah, what he really wanted was a marriage. He had just never heard it put into words before.

"Y-yeah. That's perfect—that's—that's better than perf—"

"I mean," Kagome interrupted, "it's not too soon is it? We could wait a while. We've…been separated for a long time."

"No, that's fine. We could do it whenever. Get married," Inuyasha choked out as a smile on his lips became acquainted with his flushed face.

"Yeah but… We've really only had three days this time."

Inuyasha shook his head.

"Forget about that. Nothing's changed—really—since then. Our feelings anyway. You still feel the same about me as you did back then, right?"

Kagome blinked once over those beautiful brown eyes of hers.

"No."

Inuyasha's smile vanished. A sudden chill replaced the heat in his face. When a blush became visible on her face, Inuyasha's own expression changed to that of puzzlement. Kagome smiled shyly.

"I don't feel the same as back then. Especially not after that kiss."

His blush returned as brightly as hers. "Ah."

Kagome shrunk down from him.

"You really don't feel like there's a gap?"

Inuyasha brought himself down to her level.

"And even if there were, I'd do my best to close it."

He brought his hands around her back again, and they closed the gap between themselves, leaning into each other and wrapping their arms around one another.

* * *

...

* * *

I usually publish these things at three in the morning, so if you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them.

Chapter one is done, be on the look out for **chapter two**, when things really begin to heat up between the pair!


	2. Sewing Needles and Strands

**Sewing Needles and Strands**

Cradled in the roots of the Goshinboku was the newlywed couple, passing the time until they could make themselves useful again. While the couple was embarrassed to ask about the topic, the fact of the matter was that they needed a house of their own. Inuyasha didn't really care where he slept, but he didn't want for Kagome to have to stay with Kaede forever.

Inuyasha had drug in dead trees that were the best for good, dry framing. That was all he got to do though. Several men from the village were aiding in building the house. As of now, he boredly stared off at bird's nest while Kagome kept to herself beside him. He wanted to do something to help with the house, but he didn't know a damn thing about framing or foundations.

Roofing? He knew a bit about that. He didn't want to wait around for that point though.

_Ah, the birds settled in for the night._

The sun was already dripping red, and the sky was beginning to darken. Inuyasha's gaze wondered back over to his new wife. She had given up her modern attire for the familiar Miko robes recently. She had begun her training with Kaede, learning the names and uses of plants that grew during this time of year. It was only in the mornings for now, so it left her free time in the afternoon and evenings. She was currently using that time to practice sewing with some scraps of fabric Sango had given her. The scraps were very small, the only thing Sango could think to use them for were rags and hair ribbons anyway.

Kagome really needed the practice, she knew some basics about seams and alignments from her mother, but nothing that would help her in this world. Sango and Miroku together had gifted her a pretty role of fabric to make a yukata as a wedding present. Kagome wanted to make sure she had the basics down before she went diving into that project.

Not to mention she wanted to learn to sew for he husband's sake. The Robe of the Fire Rat patched itself with youki, but the underlayer got torn every time something got past the Robe's defenses. In their travels Inuyasha had gone through at least three of those layers that she knew of. Kagome knew how to patch holes, but they could buy a bit of white fabric to have on hand to sew a new one if need be. It was probably a little cheaper than buying a new one every time.

Kagome glanced at him when she noticed her husband's eyes directed at her. When she turned her head and he didn't react she figured he was just spacing out in her direction. He looked…bored? Grumpy?

"Inuyasha?"

He mumbled something at the sound of his name. His eyes refocused to the worried face of his wife.

"What?" He blinked.

"What's with the sour face?"

Inuyasha averted his eyes.

"Eh," he shrugged.

Kagome sighed. She turned her attention back to her stitching, but continued; "You feel kind of useless out here, huh?"

Inuyasha straightened his back, blinking at her.

"N…No that's not really—"

"Don't lie to me."

"Keh," Inuyasha scoffed. He crossed his arms in his sleeves and leaned back against the tree.

She paused her needle to look at him from the corner of her eye.

"If you're bored, you could practice sewing too," she said as she went back to sewing.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at that.

"Honestly I don't even know why _you're_ bothering practicing."

"And _what_ do you mean by _that_?" His wife snapped back before he had a chance to realize what he'd said. He sat up straight, trying to back out of his words; their meaning having been skewed in Kagome's mind.

"I didn't mean—"

"Ouch!"

Kagome shook her hand away from her sewing, before turning it over to examine it. With her right hand she squeezed the index finger that had been pricked to see if it would bleed. She groaned quietly when red welled to the surface. Instantly, Inuyasha grabbed her hand with a muttered "gimme that," and licked the blood off. He didn't think anything of the action. He held it to his mouth and gently sucked until he was certain he didn't taste blood anymore. Kagome slowly took her hand back as Inuyasha continued talking.

"What I meant was I don't know why you'd need to practice anyway. You know how to patch holes and stuff already."

"Inuyasha. I thought I told you already? I really want to use some of the fabric Sango and Miroku gave me to make a yukata."

Inuyasha sighed. He leaned his head back against the tree; the bark would be rough on his scalp if not for the unusual thickness of his silver hair. Kagome tilted her head to the side, curious about Inuyasha's behavior.

"Why are you—I don't know—being weird about this?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I dunno. It's not me being weird so much as…" his voice lowered to a whisper, "you're taking this whole 'wife' thing a little more seriously than I expected."

Kagome burst out laughing. She was a little surprised as well, but found it more funny that some of her feminism had apparently rubbed off on him in this era. Inuyasha's startled, surprised face only made her laugh harder.

"What the hell, Kagome?!"

"Sorry, sorry, it's nothing," she said as her laughing fit died down. Inuyasha's face was still hilariously bewildered with that one eyebrow lifted as high as it would go. Kagome smiled and set her sewing aside. She scooted closer to Inuyasha and leaned her back against his right arm, resting her head on his shoulder. She could almost feel the heat from his face as she snuggled into him. She heard him cough awkwardly before he spoke again.

"It's getting dark. You won't be able to see that needle for much longer out here."

"Then I won't sew anymore."

She heard him cough again, but he didn't make a noise to agree or disagree. She breathed deeply and leaned further into him. He tried shifting his arm to make it more comfortable, but only succeeded in making Kagome uncomfortable. She reached back around and pulled Inuyasha's arm from behind her. She snuggled into his torso then, holding Inuyasha's hand between hers. The palm was so rough, the size was defiantly that of a man's, but the fingers looked long and the claws created an interesting tapering illusion, like a woman's hands. Inuyasha flexed the digits slightly, leading Kagome to ponder the deadly tips. Those claws had severed flesh from bone, ripped through small trees and put deep gashes into iron armor. Yet, the claws didn't worry her. She had no fear of grabbing this hand whenever she pleased. The few times those claws had been used against her, the hanyou who owned them had no control over. Possessed by his own blood, or an evil spirit—now that Naraku and the jewel were long gone—those days were over.

She curled her own index finger. It didn't hurt in the slightest, strangely. She blinked then looked back down to Inuyasha's hand. She picked it up then and turned it over. She felt Inuyasha shift, trying to see what she was doing with his hand. She placed a gentle kiss on the palm. She squeaked a bit when his hand slid from her lips to around her jaw. He gently urged her to turn towards him before he pressed his lips against hers. She laid a hand on his shoulder and twisted her body to regain balance in such an awkward position.

"Hold on," she uttered when they broke apart. She shifted her lower body into a more stable position beside his leg and leaned back over him into another kiss. Her incisors scraped against his bottom lip and he made a noise he hadn't planned, so his body stalled. This earned a chuckled from Kagome. She licked his bottom lip before pushing her tongue between his lips. He grunted when her tongue ran over his own incisors and pushed her back.

"What're you doin'?" he panted.

"Hush," she whispered back. She pushed a leg between his and raised herself up to get better leverage over him. She pushed him into the bark and continued on her way. She went right back with her tongue until Inuyasha got the gist of it and pushed his own back against hers.

"Ah!" She gasped into the kiss as he copied her actions a little more roughly. He squeezed her ribs on his way to sliding his hands around her hips. Kagome pulled away for breath and Inuyasha's lips continued to her jaw. He pulled her a little closer—his lips kissing her throat now. Kagome set her chin on top of his head. She opened her eyes to those fuzzy white ears, twitching against her breath. No wait, even between breaths. She tried to focus on the curious little appendages even with all that was going on with her neck at the moment.

'_oh,'_ she thought. His ears were twitching in time with his **heartbeat**. Then, her own heart sped markedly. She realized she had pressed her knee intimately against another place that his pulse was strong and in rhythm with those cute ears. She noticed one hand had left her hip for support against the earth. They were leaning back—or rather—Inuyasha was leaning her backwards.

And right now, she would let him.

But as is happened, she felt a sharp pain in her scalp. She tried to ignore it, but when Inuyasha shifted them slightly to their sides, Kagome yelped. He lifted his head from her neck, concernedly.

"What's wrong?"

Kagome raised her hand to try and find what her hair had gotten tangled around, but from her position, she couldn't look up to tell. Inuyasha pulled himself away to see where her hand was and followed it to the vines that enveloped the tree. There was a good chunk of her black hair tangled in the vines just over their heads.

"Hold on, I gotcha."

Kagome moved her hand for Inuyasha the slice the vine above and below the strands. She took the vine away and tried pulling the strands out with a good bit of difficulty. She huffed. Inuyasha tried his hand at untangling the strands, but it was if the strands of her hair had sewn itself like thread around the vine. It didn't help that the vine was covered in sap. Inuyasha began cutting the vine into smaller bits and unraveling the hair from there. Their hands quickly became covered in the sticky substance. Kagome yanked the last stuck strands out of her head, five strands sticking to the last bit of it.

She paused to touch her fingers together. The sticky substance made her fingers stick to each other. She reached up to feel her hair. Her face soured. Her hair also had the same sticky texture as her fingers. Inuyasha's own face quickly fell into the same expression, looking at his wife. He quickly untangled his leg from Kagome's and stood up. He reached up to the vines over his head and began tearing them down angrily.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Kagome put her hand down to help herself up, the sticky sap taking some of the dry moss with it. Inuyasha ripped down another vine. He turned to Kagome at her murmur of 'ew'. His brows knit when he saw that she was trying to pick the moss off of her hand. He glared off in a random direction, focusing on the moss and leaves that littered the forest floor.

'_She should get something better than this crap,'_ he thought. He flexed his sticky hand and scowled.

"Let's wait until the house is finished."

Kagome's face flushed.

"Wait for what?" she didn't want to admit what they had been about to do.

Inuyasha's blush quickly matched his wife's. He didn't respond. Neither of them did; they just stood staring at one another, fighting over whose face could match the color of Inuyasha's clothes the fastest. Inuyasha coughed, turning his head away and willing the color out of his face and neck.

"We should wash this crap off our hands and head back to Kaede's."

Kagome nodded, staring at her feet now, and followed Inuyasha back to the creek.

* * *

...

* * *

Thank you for all the reviews! I honestly didn't expect that.

I had to insert this chapter instead of my original chapter two because of all the reviews. I didn't want to just dive right into smut like that after those nice reviews. -/- Honestly, this isn't supposed to have much of a plot, or go in any sort of chronological order. This one is almost twice as long as the first chapter, wow.

One note about the hands. (There's a good chuck of writing about hands) I am first and foremost an artist, and I have this funny obsession with hands. The way Inuyasha's hands are drawn about volume 15 and after in the manga is an interesting mix of masculinity with the feminine qualities to go with them, though it's largely how the claws make them look. I love his hands more than anything.

Again, I'm publishing this really late at night so my eyes are too tired to pull out mistakes, so let me know if you see any so I can fix them right away.


	3. Hot and Cold

**Hot and Cold**

A few of the men waved goodbye to the couple as they left the building site for their own homes. Inuyasha inspected the house, agreeing that it probably only needed a about a ten days' work, as one of the men had said. With the way Inuyasha had things planned out, that deadline worked brilliantly.

Kagome waved her husband over for the rice she had carried with her and they ate with quiet conversation, ranging from the heat of the day to the possible layout of furniture. Sango and Miroku were storing the few items they'd been able to buy for their house—Inuyasha had a little money from the jobs he and Miroku had done over the years. Most of it had been useless to Inuyasha, and with the monk's growing family, 90% had gone to him. The rest of the items they were borrowing from some of the villagers they knew better. They'd return the items when they got money enough to replace them.

Kagome wondered how it would work out for the young family if Inuyasha began collecting half the payment from jobs. Inuyasha explained that Miroku had been storing some of the money for Sango in case something happened to him. He then relayed that Sango had smacked her husband upside the head for that comment. She'd kill him a second time if he left her alone to care for their children.

With a smirk, Inuyasha's ears twitched in the direction of the village at a sneeze. He'd smelled his friend for a while coming. Miroku probably hadn't heard what they'd been saying about him, hence the sneeze. Kagome waved when she saw him entering the clearing.

He returned the wave as he spoke to Inuyasha. They had another job coming up. When Miroku gave the location, about four days' walk in either direction, Inuyasha stopped him.

"It's that far up north?"

Miroku's head tilted slightly. "Yes?" he said questioningly.

"Isn't that kinda far? We'd be gone for, like what, eight or nine days?"

The monk eyed his friend suspiciously as he thought of the reason it might worry him. They had traveled farther before, but the way Inuyasha spoke, it seemed like the time was more of an issue than the distance.

"Ah," he realized it then. "And what day of the cycle is it?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Got eleven days."

The monk nodded. "Will that be cutting it a little too close for you?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Nah, not really. But me an' Kagome'll be moving in around then too."

Kagome looked back at the house with Miroku. He nodded again, looking back to his friend.

"Well, what do you think? You don't want to go?"

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to Kagome, trying to get her opinion on the matter. She shrugged. He sighed and faced forward again. He really should take whatever job he could get.

"If we don't dawdle, it shouldn't be any more than eight to get there, squash whatever bug needs it, and get back."

That agreed upon, the two discussed their morning plans as Kagome left down to the creek offshoot to refill her water container. She was startled a bit when she found that the water was so cold. She shook it off and filled the container to the brim, setting it beside her. She stuck her fingertips in the water again, loving the contrast between the temperature of the water and the summer heat. She placed her hands just under the surface, the cool numbness in just her palms in was making her feel a bit more comfortable. It was nice.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha called as he came down to the creek. She turned and smiled at him, removing her hands from the water to stand.

"You forgot this," he said, holding her bow out to her. It was the very one she had worked so hard to master those years ago. It had somehow wound up back on this side of the well, and since Kagome had returned she'd mainly been using it for target practice. Her skills had become rusty over time.

Kagome blinked, taking the bow from him.

"I was only gone for two minutes, Inuyasha."

He rolled his eyes. "Doesn't matter. You should have it on you all the time. Just in case."

Kagome smiled. "Just in case of what? You've been pretty much glued to me since we I came back. Even if you're gone for a day with Miroku, I doubt that'll be the day I have to use it."

"Sometimes we're gone for longer, like the next week." he shrugged. He cleared his throat and began on that topic.

"Did you hear any of that last bit?" Kagome shook her head and he continued. "Well, he just left, but me an' him are takin' off before dawn so we can get some dirt kicked up before it gets hot. You want me to wake you up to say good bye?"

"Yeah," Kagome said, standing across from him. "I'd like that."

She leaned forward against Inuyasha and he leaned back against her. She grasped some of the fabric at his chest and leaned up to kiss him softly. He smiled, as he usually did when she came back down on her heels. To Kagome, that soft, genuine smile was the best view in the world. It had taken so long for her to break him out of his shell to see it, and her heart swooned whenever he showed it to her. She smiled back and reached a hand up to cup his cheek for another innocent kiss.

"Holy shit!" he swore, snatching her hand away reflexively. He shivered. "Why's your hand so cold?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Kagome laughed at herself for forgetting. "I had my hands in the water. You alright?"

Inuyasha sighed, squeezing her small, cold hand in his. He held it to his cheek with his left hand after a second.

"Yeah. It actually…feels…kinda nice…" he closed his eyes and leaned into her hand. It actually was pretty hot recently, he'd briefly considered letting Kagome tie up his hair like she wanted at one point. Her cool skin was slowly warming, enveloped by his own. Kagome noticed his skin was rather warm, and a sudden, devilish, thought came to mind.

"You know," she started, reaching up with her still cool left hand, "some people put a cool towel on their necks when they get hot." And her husband was very hot. At the moment, in a couple ways, though she was more concerned about one than the other. He opened he eyes as she pushed his hair aside to place her cool hand at the back of his neck, her fingers dipping under the hem of his clothing. The sensation of the temperature shift did feel nice, he thought as he closed his eyes again, although his pulse changed slightly just having her hands on him. A part of him was saying to read his wife better, her intentions weren't as innocent as she said, but another part told _that_ part they could go to hell.

She spread her hand at over his shoulder, under his clothes. He opened his eyes, just barely, as her hand continued down. Her fingertips traced his collarbone. The skin there was soft, perpetually guarded by the Robe of the Firerat. Her hands were now void of their earlier coolness, all of the sensation having returned.

"Kagome."

She spread her hand down over his chest. The hem of his clothing hindered her slightly. It had been so long that she was away, she certainly didn't remember his pectoral being this pronounced. Unless fueled by demon blood, he had always had a slight build, appropriate for the age he was. Slight as he was, his strength was beyond deceiving. '_Then again,'_ Kagome thought, _'I've never actually tried to _feel_ him while I was bandaging him.'_

She couldn't decipher his expression, he just stared down at her. His golden eyes shown brightly as always even for the low light by the creek. He had let go of her hand, even, just looking at her. Kagome felt heat come to her cheeks and drove her eyes down to her left hand. She brought her right from his face to widen the gap in his clothing. This finally urged a reaction out of her husband, hunching his shoulders and moving all of one inch away from her. She looked back up at him, his face aflame and glancing all around them. She smirked and pulled the cord that kept the extra fabric at his belly.

He jumped when it came undone and the layers began to untuck. Kagome spread both her hands over his chest, widening the spread of his layers. The white underlayer was still tucked into his hakama, but it was easily loosened.

"Okay, stop," he said as she began to pull the sides of the clothing out of his hakama. She didn't stop. She pushed her hands back inside his clothing, running them along his ribs. He laid his hands on her elbows to still them, but she retaliated by leaning forward and began kissing the center of his chest. He exhaled sharply, but she continued kissing up to his collarbone. For the heat in the air, his body made the tempurature seem cool now against his skin. The grip on her elbows fell slack and he lifted his head as her kisses went higher. She loved it—how heavy and quick his pulse was as she kissed over his carotid. She moved her hands again, sliding them around his sides and anchoring them at the small of his back. She had him gasping—hunching over her—when she ran her tongue over his Adam's apple and applied a little pressure to his back.

He closed his eyes and his hands automatically slid around her own waist, only _over_ her clothes. They raised a little and when his thumbs gently brushed the curve of her breasts is where he stopped himself.

"Kagome," he choked, gently squeezing her sides, "stop, this ain't fair."

"What's not fair?" she asked into his neck. She bit her lip for the courage to get the next part out. "You're allowed to touch me."

His back stiffened at that.

"Fuck…" he shook his head to try and remember where his line of thought had been before it was so delightfully clouded with the image of his wife in the very same stage of arousal that he was. "No, we've only got a little while until the house is finished. You've waited this long."

"It has been a long wait," she said, pulling away slightly, raising her hands to his shoulder blades. She managed to catch his flustered gaze as he righted his posture. He tried to clear the haze from his eyes as he stared down into hers. He bit his cheek to find the resolve to continue despite the look in her brown eyes.

"I'm serious."

She closed her eyes for a second of thought before reopening them.

"A bit of touching won't hurt."

"Maybe not you," he replied without a second's wait.

She blinked. "Oh." Her eyes drifted downwards.

"Don't look!" He barked in embarrassment.

Kagome sighed. She looked back up at her husband's serious expression. She dropped her hands from around his back and removed them from his clothing. She then willed a small smile to her lips.

"We're really going to wait until then?"

He nodded. "If I am allowed to have any say in the matter."

Kagome nodded, and handed the cord back to him so he could dress properly. She stood back as he quickly tucked everything back into place. She picked her bow and water up to remove the temptation of looking at his disheveled form again. A strong warm hand pulled hers back towards her husband when he had finished. They laced their fingers together, but nothing more as they exited the tree line. Inuyasha had probably _cooled off_ enough by the time they started on the path to Kaede's house. They were nearly to the hut before Kagome spoke again.

"So," she said with a wry grin, "Are you still going to wake me up before you leave tomorrow, or have I misbehaved a bit too much?"

He glanced back at her, a playful glint in his eye.

"Only if you promise not to molest me again."

"Now, I can't really tell what tomorrow brings."

He chuckled, stopping their forward movement. "Then I won't."

She pushed his shoulder. "Sure you will. You'll miss me just as much as I will you."

"Yeah," he agreed, kissing her forehead. Kagome sighed and wrapped her other hand around his arm, then they walked back to Kaede's house that way.

* * *

...

* * *

A _little_ more intense Marshmallow fluff. :I I'm getting there. Please be patient with me, I haven't written this way since I was in junior high. I had to rewrite my original chapter two, and it looks like it will be a chapter four (for now i'msosorryigetsonervous).

Thank you for the reviews! It's so cool, I'm glad you like it so far.


	4. A Little Planning-Part I

**A Little Planning-Part I**

"Okay, now turn around," Sango told Kagome, the young mother holding one squirming toddler under either arm.

Kagome turned around to show off her sewing work. Sango frowned a little on seeing the back. She plopped one of the girls into her lap and tugged on the bottom hem of Kagome's blue yukata.

"Well," she started, touching her knuckle to her lips. "The pattern here doesn't quite match up,"

Kagome frowned and opened her mouth to speak when Sango continued.

"But unless someone's really staring at your bottom, they won't notice. And besides, you'll be wearing a wrap most of the time."

Kagome sighed, nodding.

"But for your first time, you did well." She squeezed her daughters to her, smiling at them, "And what do you girls think?"

The girls looked back at Kagome, giggling.

"Pwetty!" Koyuki Squealed, followed a second later by Yukie. Kagome chuckled before a familiar aura tugged at the edges of her mind. She indicated to Sango that the boys were back and took her leave to meet up with Inuyasha. As she went towards where she felt Inuyasha's youki, she crossed paths with Miroku.

"He didn't even let me sleep last night, we just ate dinner and kept walking," Miroku told her with a groan. He went on to say that Inuyasha had disappeared promptly after entering into the village. Miroku bid farewell to Kagome and left for home. She was a bit curious about why her husband hadn't greeted her promptly upon arrival, but she shook it off. It wasn't long before Kagome figured out where Inuyasha had gone, and made her way over to Kaede's house.

Kagome raised an eyebrow upon entering the old Miko's home. She looked to Kaede, sorting the plants she had picked up that morning. The old Miko shrugged and went back to her sorting.

"Didn't say a word. He just came in and keeled over."

Kagome looked back down to her husband. He was curled on his side against the wall, not even his ears moving at the sound of voices. Not even Miroku seemed so tired.

Rin ran right into Kagome as she tried to enter the hut holding armfuls of firewood. The little girl (who was not so little anymore) apologized and sat the firewood by the far wall. She got down a small wrapping for Kaede. Kaede collected enough ground herbs for a dose of medicine, and wrapped them for the young girl to sprint out the door to deliver the medicine.

Kagome sighed as the screen flapped shut.

"Still pretty busy around here?"

Kaede nodded.

"That fever's got quite a few people, I wish I could be more useful. Do you think I could run errands as well?"

"Nay," Kaede responded softly. "That child can run faster than I can make this medicine. In due time, you'll learn to make this particular mix. But as of now you should focus on the more basic ones."

Kagome crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame.

"I hope I can learn quickly. Everything has slowed down the past few days for those who are sick. Those who are well sure are moving fast."

She looked back in on her husband, soundly sleeping like he sometimes did when he wouldn't admit to being tired. She wondered how he would take the news that some of the men working on their house had fallen ill.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, the build was only delayed by one day. Inuyasha did any heavy lifting necessary, jumped up with supplies where a human would need to climb, and surprised a few of the workers with his quick hammering technique. He more than made up for the couple of men home with a fever. The roof was finished by mid-morning. Inuyasha decided it was perfect for now. It would need a bit of additional insulation before winter, but there was a good while to get that taken care of.

Sango and Miroku helped move everything in, Ichiro strapped to his mother's back and Shippo entertaining the girls outside. The young parents tried to ignore the arguments about the layout from the younger couple. Inuyasha gave up trying to explain at one point, stomping out and returning minutes later with one of the heavier items—discussion over.

Everything was moved and in its place (depending on who you ask—husband or wife) by the afternoon. Kagome helped Shippo watch the kids as she ran down to help Sango finish her chores. Inuyasha tried to do the same, but Miroku kept piping up with a suggestive tone about his friend's first night in his own home—Inuyasha covered his ears and settled into a tree to ignore him. Kagome offered to make dinner that night, since she mostly dictated where to put things. Sango happily agreed and offered some vegetables to add. The topic then changed to how to start a garden properly as she and Kagome finished up and walked to meet up with the boys.

* * *

After rinsing all the bowls from their early dinner, the young parents stayed to chat a while with the newlyweds. Miroku continued the ladies' conversation from earlier on how to start a small garden. The young parents' garden wasn't big by any means, but they had vegetables to eat throughout the warmer months. When Miroku and Sango's girls started becoming whiny, they decided it was time for bed. There was still an hour of daylight, Inuyasha noted, as the younger twin had.

"But is nod nighttime," Koyuki complained as she rubbed her face into Sango's shoulder. Miroku picked the other up and Sango transferred Koyuki to his free arm.

"Yes it is, baby," he calmly told the green-clad toddler.

"Nuh-uh," she replied stubbornly.

Yukie just closed her eyes without putting up a fuss. Koyuki made a long drawn out whine as Sango bid their friends goodnight. Kagome chuckled as she heard the baby start to fuss outside, awoken on his mother's back by his noisy sister. They were cute, but she could wait a while before…

Kagome stood to stretch her legs. When she had thoroughly stretched her back, she reached for Inuyasha's hand. He gave her a puzzled look.

"I want to say thankyou to Kaede and Rin, too. Since Kaede's been so wonderful to put us up until now," Kagome explained.

Inuyasha made a sour face.

"Can't you do that in the morning?

Kagome frowned.

"Yeah, I suppose…isn't that kinda rude though?"

Inuyasha scoffed, checking the fading sunlight from the corner of his eye. He doubted they'd get back before nightfall if they left now. Well, actually they could, but not if Kagome wanted to visit any.

"You could say you were too tired to head over there tonight. It'd be understandable…even though most of what you did was order people around."

Kagome glared.

"I'm gonna forget you said that," she paused, "but honestly, I wanted to scope out the area before it got too dark. I know I looked at where we could put a garden before the house was built, but I want to see which spot works best."

Inuyasha weighed her words carefully. There was still a little time before the sun went down, and they wouldn't be leaving the forest…just a short walk around the area.

Inuyasha sighed and rose to his feet.

"Yeah, we should probably do that," he said, walking past his wife. He didn't check to see if she was following, because he assumed she was. Then he heard a bit of scuffling from the house and realized he never heard her footsteps.

"Kagome?"

Kagome poked her head out from the door, smiling.

"Just putting the dishes away, we forgot to do that."

He raised a brow to Kagome as she pranced out after him. He could have sworn they'd put the bowls away. Nevertheless, Kagome wrapped a hand around his wrist and dragged him to the closest location she'd noticed before the build. Kagome stopped short of a clearing a stone's throw from the house for inspection. They considered the light and distance from the house, but Inuyasha decided after two minutes of circling that it wouldn't work.

"The light's good and all, but all these little roots would take forever to rip out. By the time we got 'em out there'd be more to grow in. Tree roots aren't a problem, but these little suckers…"

Kagome nodded and lead her husband a little deeper through the brush until her yukata sleeve got snagged, she pulled it loose after a second, but Inuyasha commented anyway that they'd have to cut a new path through if they wanted to plant here. The circled back after a few more spots, but they were plagued by roots or rocks or the sunlight wasn't good enough. They crossed over to the other side of the house, finding a few better options. Kagome was happy that they had narrowed it down. The light was fading and she decided to get a drink of water from the stream before heading back, since it was closer than the house. Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably when Kagome wiped her mouth on her sleeve.

"What's eating you?" She asked.

He shook his head and replied that he wanted to get back to the house. His eyesight was becoming dimmer with every second as the sun dipped lower over the horizon. The house was in sight when he felt the sun set and the changes take full effect.

Kagome gasped when she saw the pale silver darken to an inky black. She smiled when she realized what had happened.

"Ohh," she started in a high pitch, "I totally forgot this happened!"

"Yeah, yeah," he tried brushing her off.

"Wait, I've been here two months, this should have happened already. Where was I for the first change?"

Inuyasha blinked once over newly black eyes, trying to remember.

"Ah, yeah, you slept right on through. It was pretty near the solstice then, so by the time you woke up I was normal again."

Kagome frowned as a thought struck her. Good timing that he could turn human in his own home this month…wasn't it?

Kagome smirked, tightening her grip on his arm. Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously. What the hell was that look on her face supposed to be? He also noticed that she definitely seemed a lot stronger gripping his human arm than if he were hanyou now.

"You planned this."

Inuyasha bit the tip of his tongue and said nothing. Kagome stopped them outside the door, turning to stand in front of him. She shook her head and smiled more genuinely.

"You thought it would be a good idea for our first night together—alone together—to be your human night?" She asked, leadingly. Inuyasha felt like he was being drawn into a trap. It sounded like a good idea in his head. Kagome continued, "Our first night, just the two of us, alone in the middle of the forest—unfamiliar environment for me—just two helpless humans," she was still smiling, but Inuyasha interrupted her anyway.

"Don't give me that crap. You're far from helpless. I'd be screwed on my own, but you at least know how to use a bow," his face brightened towards the end, "I'm glad I got you around to protect _me_."

Kagome giggled when he bent down to lean his forehead against hers. She backed away from him for a second before kissing him without removing her smile. His free hand came up to rake through her hair before drawing her back up into another kiss. She broke away and tugged his hand back through the screen into their new house.

A tiny fleck of anxiety rolled through his mind when they crossed the threshold. He swallowed that thought whole, they had once tried this in the middle of the forest, and now there were no pesky vines to hinder them. His wife was quickly quelling any other worries he might have, tugging him further into the house—past the firepit and nearly to the back wall. He almost tripped over something—his gaze solely focused on his wife at the moment. She noticed the stumble and stopped their forward motion by the back wall. Repeating the steps she had on previous occasions, she wrapped a hand around the beads pulling him to her.

* * *

...

* * *

Sorry it took so long. I've rewritten this probably six times now, and it's still not much better than what I used to write when I was a kid. Plus, I'm just starting back out there, it's incredibly embarrassing, albeit thrilling to write.

It got really long, so I split it into two parts.

Another thing, my personal favorite of Inuyasha's three forms is as a human, but obviously Kagome's preferred is his normal one. I adore brown eyed characters. There's always debate about Inuyasha's eye color, (brown, grey or dark violet are the most common) but I think the animation staff was going for dark brown-a common color. I think they wanted to make him as common and normal a human as they come, though in the manga, while some human characters have fully inked eyes, a screentone was always used for Inuyasha, suggesting a lighter shade albeit darker than the gold.


	5. A Little Planning-Part II

**A Little Planning-Part II**

Once again, she lead the motions until he got a feel for the situation and took the more aggressive approach, tightening his grip on her back with one hand and clutching the hair at the base of her skull to tip her head up. He heard her chuckle before she came back to kissing him. He growled in human voice when her hands began tugging on the hem of his clothing as she had done over a week prior. She pulled away from the kiss to smile at him. He opened his eyes, and if his heart weren't pounding before it would be racing from the way Kagome gazed up at him lovingly.

Before he could do anything to show how much he loved that look, her lips were back at his throat, muttering, "The sound's a little different when you're human, you know?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered what the hell she was talking about. He felt her pushing away from him slightly, allowing the action since he knew what was expected next.

"Still sexy," she continued. She pulled the cord to release the folds of his clothing. Unlike last week, he didn't move away from her as she spread her hands under the layers, and over his chest. She felt down the sides of his ribs until the white layer hindered her again. She pulled on the sides, this time untucking it completely from his hakama, rather than just loosening it. She kissed his chest, noticing a cough when she reached her tongue out to taste the skin there. His breath was loud and heavy against her hair, he had loosened his grip on her back, and she could tell without looking, the expression on his flushed face.

"Do you want to take this off?" She asked, fingering the beads.

"I-it's fine. Leave it be," he said shakily.

She nodded and ran her hands down his sides, coming to meet at the front where…his abdominals hadn't been this pronounced either. At least she didn't remember them as pronounced. In the past, when she was treating stomach injuries, the muscles here were never visible, but if she pressed with a little pressure to scrub out any debris in his wounds, the muscles were hard just under the skin. Kagome thought back—the only time they were visible was that first time he had been overcome by his demon blood, and that was because every muscle in his body was tense in that moment.

She tried to glance down, but his belly was still shadowed from the firelight by his top layers. She drew her hands up again, running her hands over his shoulders and pushing the clothing layers from them. Inuyasha groaned and ducked down to kiss her again before she got a chance to look. She would have whined at missing out on the view if it hadn't been for her husband's tongue. _'Wow,'_ he lost her train of thought in his kiss then, and completely forgot what she was trying to do when he broke away to whisper in her ear.

"That's enough of that." His breath was hot on her cheek, and her knees buckled. Luckily though, he had chosen that moment to slide a hand from her back to her rear to help support her weight. It was the first time his hands had left the safe zones of her back and sides since they were wed—minus the brush at the creek. His other hand left her hair to lean on the wall. He bowed over her, trying to let them down gently, though his strength wasn't what it was usually, especially given the awkward angle.

Safely lowered to the wood floor—Kagome leaned against the wall and him kneeling over her outstretched legs—his hands left their respective positions for her waist. His fingers picked at her obi, suddenly recalling that the knot was at her back instead of the front with her miko attire. Having the same idea, Kagome's hands slid out of his hair and squeezed his shoulders gently before tucking between their bodies and feeling for the knot in his hakama. She jumped slightly, _feeling_ a lot more than the knot as she groped blindly. She felt guilty immediately, since what she brushed against shouldn't have startled her. However, an odd grunt came from her husband immediately following. She stilled her hand for a second before pressing it back into place purposefully.

"Mnh…"

Feeling along through the fabric earned very quiet, very erotic sounds from her husband, who hunched over her more now, raised on his knees and leaning his forehead against her shoulder. All Kagome could see at the moment was black hair, and the top part of his back.

"Kagome…" he breathed when she squeezed gently through his hakama. He was enjoying the moment until he realized he shouldn't enjoy it quite so much. He put a hand back on the wall to push away, and the other wrapped around her wrist.

"H-hey, hang on a second, okay?"

He was almost panting from just that. Kagome might never forgive him if he got too excited without her. Or rather, she might not if she had to wait even longer for him to get ready again. Kagome blinked once up at him when he kneeled a little lower. He always stopped her for some reason. His dark brown eyes scanned over her face again before turning his gaze to his elbows, where his sleeves were still gathered. He released her wrist to remove the Robe of the Fire Rat, and went to place it behind him, when he noticed something odd.

The bedding was already out. He cocked his head to the side, trying to think of how the bedding was already…Kagome was doing some minor planning of her own. This is why she took so long getting outside. He turned his gaze back to his wife.

"You didn't really want to visit Kaede, did you?"

Kagome flushed, shaking her head.

"And we put the bowls away earlier."

Inuyasha nodded, took a deep breath, moved his legs from straddling hers and backed up to the edge of the bedding. Kagome followed, trying to lessen the awkwardness of the transition as much as possible. It was made easier by Inuyasha pulling her towards him as soon as she was within reach. He urged her to stand on her knees, so he could repeat her actions from before—kissing her neck. One hand around her waist found the obi's knot and slid it over to the side where untying it would be easier. Kagome shivered reflexively when the panels of her yukata parted. This didn't go unnoticed by her husband, who smirked into her neck. Then, he gently pushed on her shoulder. She held onto his shoulders to ease onto her back. He followed her down, placing a hand on either side of her, and entering into another kiss. She got a firm grip on the hair at the base of his skull, holding him there until they were both in desperate need for air. He leaned up a bit, his hair falling around them beautifully. His view was particularly beautiful, he thought, gazing at the young woman under him—hazy brown eyes, smiling lips, long black hair spread out against the red and white fabrics they had forgotten to move.

She cupped his cheek and smiled up at him. He closed his eyes and lifted her hand from his face. Her brows knit in slight confusion when he pushed her forearm down beside her head. He did the same with the other, removing it from his hair. He let go of her wrists, with one knuckle drew a line between the panels of her yukata, and slid it down the center of her chest, dividing the sides. He couldn't hear her heart like he normally could, but he could feel that her heart was pounding just as hard as his.

A sudden bout of embarrassment drew him closer to her, kissing her again. After a second, Kagome pulled him away by the hair, sudden awkwardness apparent on her face as well. He didn't know where to put his hands—her breasts were a good option, but he couldn't just fondle her the entire time—so he kept his hands on either side of her waist.

"Are…do you know what you're doing?"

Inuyasha flushed darker than he had in a while.

"O-Of course I do," he sputtered. Kagome translated that as 'I have literally no clue.'

"You're alright to look. I'd actually pre—"

"I know that!" Inuyasha blurted. He blinked, averting his eyes and repeated much more quietly, "I know thMNF—!" He didn't finish as Kagome yanked him back down for a rough kiss. She let up a moment later, kissing more tenderly, sucking gently at his lip. She led her hand down his shoulder and followed the length of his arm to his hand. She held it gently and pushed it up onto her left breast.

"Ah," Inuyasha gasped, breaking away from his wife's kiss to scan over her face. She still had her eyes closed as she moved his hand beneath hers, so he looked to where their hands were. Her skin was warm and flushed and her breast compliant to the motions. He bit his cheek and allowed his own hand to move over her. He enjoyed the feel and the smooth texture of her skin, and the point of her nipple under his palm. He moved his hand a little to the side, squeezing the nipple between his knuckles. Kagome's hand fell away and she tilted her head back—her husband's developing grin unseen to her.

And he did smile. He smiled for a number of reasons. This was the first time he had ever been allowed to touch a woman like this. This woman before him was the first one he'd even been tempted to touch. This woman, this wonderful, amazing woman who loved him and was allowing herself to be loved by him—without fear of anything. Without a care for his mixed blood. Other than his mother, Kagome had been the _very_ first woman to love him as he was. Although she needn't worry about claws or fangs tonight, he knew she wouldn't fear those either, even if they created a bit of apprehension in him.

"Okay," he murmured.

He dipped his head down, kissing the top of her other breast.

"ohhh…" she sighed very quietly, barely loud enough to catch. He balanced on his elbows to reach her right breast, wrapping around the side and pushing it more towards the front. He kissed the top again, ending in a lick to trail over the nipple. He felt her body tense, and heard an unexpectedly sharp note from her throat that he decided he liked. He licked over it again, then pulled it into his mouth to alternate between kissing, licking, and sucking gently. He continued to fondle the other one, pinching and rolling the nipple along with what his mouth was doing.

She kept silent from there, but her hands returned to his shoulders, unconsciously pushing him against her breasts. He continued the favor to the other, before kissing his way back to the center of her chest. He felt her kiss the top of his head. Kagome held the back of his head and pulled him into another sweet kiss. Still on his elbows, he tucked his hands under her shoulders as she spread her hands out over the hard muscles of his back. She ducked her hands under his arms to run down his sides, pressing roughly the entire way, then over his belly.

_ 'That is so hot,'_ she thought as she pressed into the muscles of his chest and belly. Just the feel was wonderful, not to mention the way Inuyasha groaned when she rubbed. Now, if only she could see him.

Her hands went far enough that she suddenly remembered that he was only half undressed. She frowned, once again feeling for the knot. He groaned again when she brushed against him, but she succeeded in untying it this time.

"Oh, screw it," Inuyasha muttered as he untangled himself from Kagome to lay on his side. He awkwardly began pulling and kicking his bottoms off, somehow managing to get his heels past the cords at his ankles. Kagome couldn't help it—she didn't really mean to laugh—but he didn't seem to notice or care. He turned back over to hover over her, but his legs remained to one side of her. His hands went firmly to her hips and his mouth back to her throat. That is, until one of his hands parted the fabric and slid down the outside of her leg, lifting and bending her knee as he went along. Kagome shivered again as his hand turned down to the inside of her thigh. He wasn't a bit nervous at the moment, he'd planned this so he wouldn't have to worry about claws. His human fingernails were never grown out past his fingertips. He leaned back up to watch her face with a crooked grin. Kagome kept her eyes opened, but she only watched her husband from her peripheral.

He wasn't surprised when he found fabric between her legs. He knew from past experience that Kagome wore these. (Actually, she should have worn something over her breasts, but she had neglected to tonight?)He pressed his hand against the fabric, making his wife's body squirm automatically. He licked his lips and lifted his hand up until he located the hem and pushed inside the garment. He was aware of his pulse again. She was already slick and he had never been more aroused in his life. Feeling around down here for the entrance was making his own blood burn red in his veins and especially in a similar area. He slid one finger inside and watched Kagome jump. She bit her lip and shut her eyes. He dared to move that finger even as she squirmed around. It felt weird to her—she liked it—but it was just an odd, foreign feeling.

Suddenly, he recalled that the monk had said something about this act a couple years ago—right before he'd had to dodge a rock thrown at him by his hanyou friend. Inuyasha couldn't recall what he'd said, so he'd store that for later.

Inuyasha pressed his other hand to her hips, stilling her a little as he inserted a second finger. He couldn't do much for her legs though. She squirmed even more at the addition and mewled into his hair. He kissed her cheek and gave up trying to hold her still, folding his unused arm under her head.

"Ah!" she gasped when he blew across her ear. She gripped his hair tightly to moan when he reached out with his tongue for the shell of her ear. Kagome was breathing heavily by that point, but she decided she was done with only the use of his fingers. She ran her hand down his back until she felt his hipbone—all the while unable to stop her squirming—and palmed around to the front.

Inuyasha hissed loudly, though it quickly became a groan as Kagome wrapped her delicate fingers around him. He pinched his eyes closed and forgot what he was supposed to be doing with his hands. He pushed his forehead into her shoulder when she started moving her hand. It felt good, really good—and a hell of a lot better than just his own hand—but he needed her to stop.

"Kagome..I…okay…st…" Kagome somehow understood what he was trying to say. He lifted his head and slipped his fingers out of her panties, but not before examining his hand. He didn't know what to do with the mess, so he wiped a bit on the Firerat Robe they were lying mostly on. He sat up a bit and hooked his fingers under the edge of her panties. She lifted herself up to help him out. She pulled her arms free of her sleeves and pushed her yukata away, which left way for an admirative once-over from her husband before he crawled back over her and settled between her legs.

Kagome took a deep breath.

"Just…be a little careful, alright?"

"Mn-hm," he replied a second before he understood what she meant. He paused.

"So that freak was tellin' me the truth?"

Kagome had to stop herself from giving a pitying look. _'Don't tell me he had to get 'the talk' through Miroku.'_ Then again, she had a sex-ed class with thirty other girls all trying to hide their faces throughout the lectures. It would have been easier to talk with a friend, but all her friends were in the same boat as her by the time that class rolled around.

"If you mean Miroku, and you mean…it'll hurt…then probably."

They both went silent for a moment before Kagome continued.

"It can't hurt more than when I had the jewel ripped out of me."

Inuyasha made a noise of disapproval before deciding her terrible example didn't matter.

"Okay," he muttered as she leaned up to kiss his cheek.

They kissed and groped about each other for a minute more, until Kagome wrapped her hand around him again. Inuyasha broke away.

"Dammit, I—"

Kagome raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk.

"Jus…" he swallowed, blinking down at her "don't rush me, woman," he finished with a chuckle.

"Actually, it might hurt less if you go quickly."

He swallowed whatever thoughts he might have had and nodded. He aligned himself properly and slowly pushed in just the tip. He took a deep breath and pushed forward, sheathing himself fully within her. He couldn't even make a sound, he just pinched his eyes shut and forced his face into her neck. It felt really good inside of her. She was warm and tightly pressed against all sides of him and…He had never felt like this before, and he almost didn't catch the gasp of pain from his wife. Grunting to clear his throat, he asked if she was alright.

"Kagome?"

Oh, it hurt, her involuntary reaction was the gasp that probably worried her husband, but in truth it was about like she expected. She had cramps a little worse than this about once a year. At least here, there was no nausea.

"I'm okay," she said with a slight whimper in her voice, "you can move."

Inuyasha grunted again.

"In a minute."

Inuyasha took a minute to regulate his breathing and pulled partway out to push back in. Both parties had their eyes closed for a minute. Only when the burn was almost completely gone for Kagome did she open her eyes. She held Inuyasha by either side of the face. She loved the sound of his moan as she kissed him. She suddenly found her back arching without her consent as Inuyasha pushed his hands up under the small of her back.

Not that she complained. In fact, this angle gave her a new perspective. She had always assumed it was the place they were connected that would make her feel good. Maybe a little bit of petting would feel nice too, but no—she discovered—that wasn't where all of her pleasure was coming from. His skin was so warm against hers and he would grip her so tightly when he came down that she just felt like he would never let go. His hair tickled her chest and arms, and his breath felt so hot and moist over her skin. She could feel his legs, his arms, his belly, chest, lips, tongue—and all of him tangled up in her, and it made her feel good; warm, secure, _loved_. This is what it was to make love, rather than to have sex. She might not notice these things if this was some boy she didn't love—but this—this was Inuyasha.

She soon found herself wrapping her legs around him to try to bring him even closer. He groaned into her ear and her eyes rolled back. She tilted her head back, her breath coming in ragged gasps and soft mewls. Her hands left his shoulders for her own hair. He finally heard her appreciative noises and managed one eye open. He didn't understand why it was so damn hard to open his eyes, when all he wanted was to see her. From what he could see, she was enjoying it. Her head tilted back and her hands clenched tightly in her black hair. One hand gripped under her rump and lifted her hips. She made a cute sound, muffled by biting her lip.

Her back arched again, creating a new angle at her hips, and that was enough for Inuyasha. He knew it had not been very long, and he tried biting his cheek to keep focused. Try as he might, he knew what was coming and rather than stop to try to regain some composure, he sped up to the finish—an attempt rewarded by louder gasps from his wife. His eyes clamped shut, and with a loud groan he buried his face into her shoulder. His body locked for a moment, then quivered into a limp, panting heap over Kagome, barely held off of her by his elbows. As he lay there, he tried to think of how to apologize for spilling so quickly, but Kagome interrupted his thoughts.

"That was good," she panted, staring straight up. She knew she didn't have an orgasm, but that was beside the point. She unwrapped her legs from around him and pulled her hands out of her hair, looking to her husband with a smile. He blinked over black eyes with a mild expression of surprise, before he returned the smile, only a tad sillier. She ran a hand through his hair, pushing his damp forelocks from his face. She leaned down to kiss him gently. He then disentangled himself from his wife so he could lie next to her and locate something to cover them. Kagome found the covers first, drawing them over the both of them and snuggling into her husband's chest. She pressed her forehead over his heart, still clamouring within his breast. His heartbeat was riotous, but at a strong and even rhythm, it was so calming. She didn't care that they were both gross and sticky, because if she had her way they'd be working up a sweat again in the morning.

* * *

...

* * *

Huh. Looks like I actually found the courage to finish it. It's been since I was 13 that I tried writing smut, I can't say if I've gotten any better at it, but it's been a long time, so my writing overall should be somewhat better.

Also, I actually planned on making this a little more... Well, I always read these ones that have Inuyasha (and Kagome too) being something of (a) sex god(s) even though we all know they're virgins so I'm betting my two cents that that first time would be a little awkward and a little less than perfect. But they'll have plenty of time to make up for it, and have lot's of practice. They'll learn how their own and each other's bodies work, Little by Little.


	6. A Little Before the Dawn

**A Little Before the Dawn**

He was a little surprised with how quickly she fell asleep. He heard one log crack in the fire, so the time it took her to fall asleep was a little longer than his (in his own mind) sub-par performance. He scrunched his face at that. He knew he might go pretty fast his first time, but he'd expected a little more stamina than that. Was it because he was a human? That had to be it. He would definitely at least last longer the next time…Kagome said she liked it, but he'd show her better.

He was making himself blush here, staring down at the lovely woman in his arms for several minutes and wondering when she would be ready for a second go. He flexed his hand. It still had a little sensation in it, but if he were in his normal form it would at least be another hour before his arm went completely numb. Actually, it _was_ nice having her sleeping like this, but he would much rather sleep with her back to him so he could wrap around her better. This position had him halfway on his back, and he usually preferred to sleep on his side.

His eyelids got heavier, but just as they closed for a second, Kagome got into that part of the sleep cycle where she thrashed around. He forgot she kicked in her sleep. Since she had been back, she'd been sleeping wrapped tightly in her sleeping bag, with no room to move.

_'Ow! Dammit,'_ he mentally swore, curling his legs out of the danger zone. She still kicked the covers off her feet though. Then she rolled out of his arms and to the edge of the bedding. With her now lying on her stomach, her flopping ceased. Inuyasha sighed. Was she going to do that every night? Although where she was now, he got a lovely view of her rump. She had a very arched, feminine curve to her spine that ended in that lovely backside of hers. Her hips were on the narrower side, but she would be strong enough to deliver babies without issue despite that—_not that he was thinking about having children_.

Inuyasha shook the needles out of his arm now that he could roll properly on his side again. He blushed brightly when a contrasting stain on the Robe of the Fire Rat caught his eye. He ignored the more obvious white stain for the smaller, darker one. _'So there was a bit of blood,'_ he thought, examining the few drops of darker red on the crimson fabric. The pervert hadn't been screwing with him. He was actually glad the Robe was laying on top of the bedding, since bloodstains would vanish from the Robe of the Fire Rat by the next morning, but normal fabrics would stain permanently.

He shook his head, tugging the edge of the sleeve from under Kagome and pushing it aside with his hakama. He scooted closer to his now calm wife and gently pulled her to him. He paused when she made a sound, but continued positioning her until he was satisfied that he could lay comfortably with as much of her pressed against him as possible.

* * *

When Inuyasha realized he had fallen asleep he jerked himself awake inadvertently awaking his wife—now tangled around him. He quickly glanced overhead to see how dark the room was, not even the embers from the fire lit the room. The only light was the earliest of twilight. He had been asleep for several hours, though it felt like only a moment. Considering how short the nights were this time of year, the sun should rise soon.

"Inuyasha?" She asked, still a little startled.

He squeezed her back a little bit and whispered for her to go back to sleep. This earned a groan from her as she let her eyes fall closed again. About a minute later she opened her eyelids again, shifting in her husband's arms and pulling back to look at him through bleary brown eyes.

"What are you doing awake?" Her voice was slurred as she tried to force herself into a proper state of consciousness. Inuyasha frowned and pulled her back to him, repeating that she should go back to sleep.

"Hey!" She grumbled as she forced herself away from his chest. He sighed and loosened his grip on her. He could only barely see the outline of her hair and shoulder, but he could tell she was probably glaring at him—or at least in his direction. He saw her shoulder shift, and he felt her hand lift from his back and feel up his arm, around the beads, and end on his jaw. She probably just wanted to know where she was supposed to be glaring. Inuyasha shivered when those fingertips ran around the edge of his rounded ear. It kind of tickled.

"I forgot. You always stay up on your human nights, huh?"

"Yeah… but I dosed off for a little while there," he replied.

Kagome removed her hand with a quiet mutter about how dark it was before rolling away from him. She sat up and noticed a twinge of pain in her belly when she moved. She ignored it to crawl to the back wall where she kept her backpack.

"H-hey! Where are you going?"

Kagome offered no explanation as she located the fabric of the bag and felt around for one of the front pockets. She located what she wanted in the pocket and crawled back to Inuyasha. The item was a little large, and made a 'clunk' when she set it down. Inuyasha raised a brow when he heard a familiar whirring sound. He couldn't remember what item of Kagome's made that sound, but it wasn't at all alarming to him.

Kagome clicked the lantern on, both her and Inuyasha squinting at the light until their eyes adjusted.

"Oh, good. It does still work."

Inuyasha's face slowly grew into a grin. He stared as Kagome positioned the lantern close to the bedding. He couldn't help himself. Kagome caught the grin after a few seconds. She squeaked and ripped most of the covers off Inuyasha to cover herself. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and leaned up on one elbow to hold his jaw.

"Like I haven't seen you naked before."

Kagome showed him a bit of exaggerated annoyance. She blinked once and the expression disappeared. She was now focused on scanning the room for their clothes. She located her yukata, near the foot of the bedding and scooped it up quickly, flipping it around and shoving her arms through the sleeves, before shyly turning to the side to drop the covers and cross the folds.

"Why're you gettin' dressed already?"

"Because," she started with a bit of heat in her face, "It's…I don't know...weird."

She stood, holding the front closed as she looked about for more of her clothing. She spotted her panties next, snatching them up and facing away from Inuyasha to step into them. She heard Inuyasha scoff at her comment. She looked around a while longer, but couldn't find her obi anywhere. Her wrap was folded with her Miko robes, that she didn't really want to refold, so she decided this was good enough. She pulled the fold as snugly as possible and crouched next to Inuyasha. She laid beside him and snuggled her back against his warm—and still nude—form. He lifted the covers and tossed them over her. She was comfortable for a moment before she noticed something awkwardly hard against her rump. She swallowed, remembering that Inuyasha had just woken up, and this was likely a reaction to that.

"Hey Inuyasha?"

"Hm?"

"Don't let me fall asleep again."

"Why not?" He asked, raising a brow.

Kagome sighed. "It's not fair that you end up staying up all night."

"Keh."

A moment of silence passed and Kagome already started to feel herself drift off. She shook it off.

"You have to keep talking to me, or I'll pass out."

Another moment passed before Inuyasha spoke.

"You got anything you want to talk about?"

Kagome thought about it for a second. They could discuss the garden again, but they did a pretty thorough job of that last night…

"No…Not really."

"Then sleep."

Kagome frowned. She sighed and squeezed tighter to Inuyasha. The stiffness in her bum was still bothering her, but his body was warm and comforting. Being snuggled next to someone you love is a different kind of heat than standing out in the summer sun all day. Despite the annoyance that the morning sun would bring, for now, this was nice. And it would be morning soon, Kagome noticed.

"Hey," Inuyasha started again.

"Yeah?"

She couldn't see the smirk, but she certainly felt her husband's fingers as he parted the layers she'd tried to close without an obi.

"If you want to stay awake a little while…"

She stiffened when he ducked his fingers under the hem of her panties. He leaned his weight on her, ever-so-slightly.

"There are other things we could do to kill time."

Kagome sighed. That would be nice but…

"I kinda want to wait until morning."

Inuyasha paused, carefully thinking over her words. It was almost morning right now. The room was getting brighter despite the lantern having gone out a minute prior. He gauged it at about 5-10 minutes before dawn. After an awkward second he asked why, his tone a little harsher than he planned. He could feel Kagome squirm slightly against him.

"I uh…it's hard to say…" She flushed brightly, "I kinda wanted to, you know, when you were in your normal form."

"And why's that?" He asked, his tone again harsher than he planned it, "You _know_ that was my first time. I'll get better at this, give me a little credit?"

Kagome's eyes popped open and she turned on her back to look at him.

"That's not what I meant! I-I…I uh…" she whispered the next part, "I really liked it…a lot. But I mean that, well, I love you." Inuyasha flushed as she continued, "and I love all of you. In any form you come in, but your regular look, well, it's the first form I knew and—" she got quiet again. "I always imagined looking up into gold eyes when we…um…" she was really trying hard to continue without bursting into flames, because that's about what her face felt like. "Your black hair looks really good too, but your regular eyes are really pretty." She averted her eyes. "Not to mention your ears. I was hoping that you'd let me play with your ears."

Inuyasha didn't know what to say. He had gone from feeling horny to awkward, to feeling like a jackass in all of thirty seconds. And his hand was still in his wife's underwear. He blinked once before pulling his hand away, only to be stopped by Kagome's own. She was still looking awkwardly away, but she pulled his hand back down between her legs. She pushed his hand against her, over the fabric. She licked her lips before speaking softly.

"I changed my mind."

Inuyasha could hardly hear her past the sound of his heartbeat in his own ears.

"You're…" he hesitated, "not just saying that because I was being a jackass, right?" He'd be a fool to turn her down, but he wanted to make absolutely sure.

Kagome shook her head.

"I can't wait until then."

She rubbed his hand against her a bit to get the point across. Inuyasha nodded. He pushed his other arm under her to wrap around her belly and pull her flush against him. He held her in place by the hand between her legs and ground himself against her backside, allowing her to feel more of his eagerness. She shuddered when her kissed her neck and continued to press his palm against her.

"You know what?" He asked, leaning up. Kagome turned her head to meet his eyes—half lidded and already growing hazy. "You can play with my ears whenever you want," he leaned down to whisper to her, "so long as you'll let me play with yours."

She squinted her eyes closed and hissed softly when his tongue traced the shell of her ear. Her hands squeezed on his hand and forearm. He swirled his tongue inside her ear, winching at the unpleasant taste, but loving the way she had to stifle a moan by biting her lip. He hooked his thumb under the elastic of her panties. He found it difficult to pull them down properly.

"Kagome, help me out here," he said, tugging on her undergarment. Kagome released his arm and bent her legs to remove them. She pulled one leg back to where it was, and slightly lifted the other for her husband's access.

The hand on her belly moved to trace the curve of her breast. He purred something into her hair when his hand gently stroked down between her legs. He slipped one finger inside her and she started to wriggle against his hips. His other hand began gently kneading her breast as he breathed in her scent. Even as a human he thoroughly enjoyed it. She twisted her back around to kiss his forehead. He laughed and tilted his head to kiss her on the lips, trailing kisses over her jaw. He slipped a second finger inside her and watched her expression pinch when he began to spread the digits. He curled his fingers and spread them, trying to watch Kagome's expression, though she turned her face away.

His heart began to pound, though it wasn't from pleasuring his wife. He felt this body start to change—that incredible strength he usually had was returning. He remembered his claws and pulled his fingers away before the deadly tips could make their appearance. Kagome whimpered once, opening her eyes and glancing back at her husband.

His hair was a dark grey now—no, almost a silver—now it was back to the white she was so familiar with. His eyes followed suit, lightening through the browns until they were golden once again. She blinked over brown eyes, wondering what it must feel like to have so many changes happen to his body at once. He noticed her curious glance and flashed a grin, exposing the tips of his fangs.

"What's that feel like?" She asked.

Inuyasha dropped the smile in favor of an arched eyebrow.

"What?"

Kagome blinked again.

"The changes. When you change from hanyou to human and then back again."

"Ah, well," he thought hard to find the words, some of his brain had forgone its blood in favor of the organ pressed firmly against his beautiful wife's backside. "The first one's easy. It's like fainting. Well, not really, but like when you feel yourself get weak and your legs get heavy, and your hearin' goes and your vision gets burry."

"Is it really that bad?" Kagome had fainted and nearly fainted on numerous occasions. She remembered how terrifying it was to lose control of her body like that.

"W-well… So you're used to being a human, but I'm not. So for me, when it happens it's…" he hesitated to say the word.

"Scary?" She finished for him. He nodded cautiously. He blinked once more, wrapping his arms around Kagome and pulling her against him again. He breathed in her scent again, now able to detect the little specific undertones that made her scent unique. Not to mention the dizzying scent of arousal.

"And when I change back," he started quietly, "It feels like these chains are taken off of me. And not just my strength, my hearing is way better." He inhaled deeply, "my nose works better," he scanned her face, "My eyesight's sharper, and…" he leaned down to kiss her jaw. She stifled a giggle when he ran his tongue across her shoulder. "You taste really good."

She broke out into a fit of giggles. She could make a joke about his larger fangs and ears, but he was not a wolf, and she doubted he would even understand the reference. He shifted then, propping himself up with one arm and rolling both of them over. Kagome was confused for a second. Then Inuyasha was holding onto her hips and lifting her onto her knees. She bit her lip, now having a good idea of what was going on. He was a dog hanyou, after all.

She let him pull the sleeves away from her arms and push her yukata away. She came down on her elbows, still biting her lip—she wasn't entirely sure about this. She looked down at the bedding beneath them—since she didn't figure there was a whole lot she could do in this position. He wrapped his hand tighter under her belly, pushing her bare back to him, letting her feel his chest and…lower.

"Kagome?" He asked, sensing her hesitance.

Kagome took a deep breath.

"I'm okay."

He brushed her hair out of the way and kissed her shoulder blade. He kissed her back, trailing his tongue partway down her spine, scraping his incisors along on his way back up. He shifted over to spread her legs with his knees. He reached down with one hand to help get aligned, smiling when Kagome arched away from him when his head brushed her lips. He held her tighter settling himself properly and leaned over her back, bracing himself with one hand against the bedding.

He slowly slid inside her, listening to her shuddering breaths and kissing her back. Kagome pushed back against him, sheathing him the rest of the way. He growled at the motion. It still felt weird for Kagome—having something inside her like this—but it didn't hurt. It felt good, yes, but it was still weird.

He pulled out partway and pushed back in, groaning quietly on the in stroke. She felt so good—warm, tight, slick—this could easily become his favorite activity. Of course, he blushed at the thought, repeating his previous actions. Kagome shifted under him, mewling louder than usual. He held her even tighter, and splayed his hand over her stomach.

"Fuuucck," he breathed, feeling how her muscles clenched against his palm as they moved. She arched against his hand, lowering off her elbows and onto her chest. He groaned at the angle and shifted his grip on her belly lower, between her hips.

Kagome gasped when he unconsciously pressed harder into her belly. She…liked the feeling. She pushed back against his hand, drawing a shudder from her husband.

"Inu…yasha…"she groaned, pressing her face against the bedding. She shifted her legs so she could move with him easier. His hand on her lower belly clenched into a fist to avoid his claws, incidentally pressing harder into the spot she liked. She moaned, turning her face into the bedding in embarrassment and tried to muffle the sound. Inuyasha's claws on his supporting hand were in serious danger of tearing the bedding.

"Dammit…" he swore, reluctantly pausing against his wife. He was going to spill just as quickly as last night if he kept at this. Kagome turned her head, barely able to see him panting behind her. It didn't feel right.

"Inuyasha? You haven't..?"

"No but…"

Kagome shifted her hips, drawing a loud grunt from Inuyasha. She pushed up with one elbow to look at him more.

"…Then let me roll over…I want to be able to hold onto you."

Inuyasha bit his tongue. He couldn't possibly blush more than he already was. He gave her a curt nod and a quick 'yeah.'

He pulled away from her and—that was unpleasant. That was uncomfortable for both of them. She rolled over and immediately grabbed either side of his face so she could lean up and kiss him. When he was fully enthralled with the kiss, Kagome pulled his hips closer again. She urged him to start back up, so he broke away from her, panting, and resumed the motions with her. She tangled her hands in his hair, forcing his head into her chest. He kissed the center of her chest. He picked his head up to glance down at her. She glanced away, like she was looking at something she shouldn't. '_Wasn't she the one who said my eyes were_ **pretty**?' he thought, lightly mocking her feminine terminology.

"Hey," he panted, slowing his pace somewhat. He cradled her cheek in his palm. She looked so embarrassed to make eye contact—it was adorable. He kissed her softly, both of them closing their eyes and forgetting the embarrassment. Inuyasha's eyes reopened when Kagome's hand was picking his own off her cheek. She changed her grip and lowered it to her waist.

"What're you doin'?"

Kagome bit her lip and pressed Inuyasha's hand to the same place it had been, between her hips.

She rolled her head to the side.

"I...really liked…when you held me here," she said between pants. Inuyasha studied her face, though he eyes fought to be closed. He applied a little more pressure to her belly. Her mouth opened a little wider for a gasp and she turned her head to the other side. Inuyasha's eyes fell closed again. He tucked his other hand under his wife's back and she arched into him, making them both groan. Kagome shifted her hips and dug her heels into the bedding. It felt good—there was something, something there. She felt like the harder that she dug her heels in, the closer she was to getting there.

Inuyasha felt himself drawing near again. He raised her up further by her back and she tugged at his hair harder. He growled deeply as he came, pushing his face into her shoulder as he was so used to. They both panted like that for a minute, Kagome's breath making her husband's ear twitch. Inuyasha tried to get off before Kagome was ready to let go, holding his head down. He turned his head to the side and let his wife hold him down. She took a few deep breaths and released him, letting her hands fall beside her head.

He lifted himself to gaze down at his wife. She didn't look like she was ready to move anytime soon. Not even for modesty's sake as she had done before. He leaned back down for a kiss—slow, lazy, loving—and smiled when he came back up. She offered him the same lazy smile, with half-lidded eyes and a chuckle in her breath.

"Better this time?" he asked casually.

She closed her eyes and laughed lightly.

"The first wasn't bad, you know."

"Is that a yes?"

"mn-hm," she offered with a nod. She still felt really good. She wondered, briefly, as Inuyasha pulled away from her whether or not she had…

"Come on," he said, sitting up and stretching his back, "we should probably get cleaned up." He blushed, but intentionally drew his gaze down to her inner thigh. Kagome flushed as brightly as him. Inuyasha turned his head to grab his clothes, and Kagome snuck her hand between her legs, feeling some of the mess. She brought her hand up to examine it, spreading her fingers and watching the stuff form a sticky bridge between her digits. She looked around for what to do with it before wiping her hand on her leg.

Inuyasha stood up and went to grab a cloth they could wipe down with. Kagome sat up to appreciate her husband's bare back—and legs, and ass.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome started, resting her chin on her knees.

He turned back to her, trying to partially hide behind the clothes in his hands.

"I want to be on top next time."

Inuyasha's eyes went wide and he blushed nearly to match his clothes.

"Y-you can do that? How, uh, how is that supposed to work?"

Kagome flushed darker, tightening her grip on her knees. Did he seriously just ask that? He acted like he'd never heard of it...It's not like Kagome had learned _positions_ from class, so why would he be any more in the dark about it than her?

"Uh…well, I, uh…you can…" she swallowed any sort of explanation. "Y-y'know what, I'll show you."

Inuyasha blinked several times, his eyes darting off randomly before returning to Kagome.

"Can you show me right now?"

"N-no!" she shook her head, "I mean, we've still got to make breakfast, I've got to go to Kaede's soon and…" her speech fell into embarrassed mumbling after that.

Inuyasha scratched the back of his head nervously.

"That's—yeah—sorry, that was stupid. Right. I'll get cleaned and dressed and then, I'll, uh, go fish. I'll get fish. I'll go fishin'."

Kagome nodded quickly, and he nodded back, their plans for the morning decided.

* * *

...

* * *

So... I can't even talk at this point. This story isn't going to be just **all** smut (I made that decision at some point in the last week) but for the time being, that's what it is. I've also decided not to split things up into parts. If my chapter gets ridiculously long, I'll split it, but for now, I'll just have a bunch of chapters of varying lengths.

Also, I have literally no clue what Inuyasha wears, even Japanese bloggers are like ? It's commonly called a suikan or a haori, but since neither really looks like it, you'll get some semblance of "Robe of the Fire Rat" every time I mention it. I may even just shorten that to "his Robe" if I get annoyed enough with it.

You guys are lovely for leaving all the reviews!


	7. Baby Talk

**Baby Talk**

When Inuyasha returned from the forest, having tracked down and shooed a few small-fry demons, it was several hours past midday. Having discussed visiting Sango, Miroku, and their children with Kagome, he headed promptly in that direction, coming across the monk tending to his family's small garden. With a squeal of glee, Koyuki launched herself towards the hanyou, and latching onto his leg before he could even spot her.

"Uh, hi there," the white-haired youth greeted awkwardly, blinking down at the green-clad toddler. She immediately started climbing his leg.

"What have I told you about climbing on people? Koyuki…" Miroku chastised from the garden, holding one finger out to her. Koyuki frowned and let go of Inuyasha's leg. She instead held her hands up in the universal gesture of 'pick me up.' Inuyasha rolled his eyes and obliged, scooping her up under the arms. He held her just out of range of his ears, but she stretched to try to reach them anyway.

"Me tooo~o!" Came the whine of the older twin, holding her arms in the same gesture. Inuyasha huffed, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.

"Sorry, Inuyasha," Miroku apologized, brushing the dirt off his hands.

"S'okay. As much as I complain, I don't mind these two, _that much_," he said, scooping the other twin up.

Miroku smiled at his good friend. He knew full well that Inuyasha loved those little girls nearly as much as he and Sango did. He had tried to avoid them right after their birth, saying he didn't like kids, but it didn't take long for the girls to notice their weird uncle and his weird ears. Yukie's first word had been 'up' and was directed towards Inuyasha with grasping hands. Sango, having seen her baby speak her first word, convinced Inuyasha that he was obligated to pick the little one up, and that was that.

"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha commented, keeping conversation with the girls. Miroku knew Inuyasha wanted to speak with him, but the girls kept babbling on in semi-understandable Japanese, forcing Inuyasha to devote most of his attention to them. For as much as he said he hated kids, he wasn't that bad at interacting with them.

"You know, I almost think they like you better than me," Miroku chuckled.

Inuyasha raised a brow. "I think it's just the ears."

The monk shook his head. "No, I genuinely think they'll miss the attention when you're busy doting on your own children," he said, smirking, when his friend turned bright red. "So tell me, you and Kagome have started working on an heir, yes?" It was a roundabout way of asking how his night was, and it implied even more than Inuyasha thought.

The girls turned up a curious glance when their living chair started sputtering.

"W-why you—!" He stopped himself, just barely, from giving the monk a name the girls didn't need to hear. He looked around for a second for something to—

Kagome poked her head around the corner of the open door, spotting her husband at the far side of Sango's garden. She smiled before ducking back into the house. Inuyasha checked with Miroku to see that he was finished in the garden, having selected enough vegetables for his family's dinner and they both went inside to join their wives. Kagome was folding one last item while Sango was playing with Ichiro.

"Ah, here you go, Kagome," Miroku said, handing her a small pouch. Kagome nodded and blinked down to Sango when she heard a laugh issue from the baby.

"Oh! He's laughing already," Kagome swooned suddenly over the baby, coming to sit beside his mother.

"It's a recent development," Sango said with a chuckle. Kagome held her face in her hands, loving the pealing laughter when Sango kissed the baby's forehead. Sango smiled back at the friend squirming happily in her seat.

"Arms," Sango said quietly. Kagome held out her arms for Sango to transfer the baby over. The infant gave Kagome a strange look, recognizing that this face was not his mother's but smiled when Kagome kissed his head. He no longer had that 'new baby' smell that Kagome had enjoyed when she first came back but he still smelled like a freshly bathed little one. Kagome blew a raspberry on his belly, making him burst out laughing louder than before. It wasn't just Kagome laughing with the sound. An infant's laugh is infectious.

"Ah, he's sooo cute. I so want one," she laughed lightheartedly, Sango wiping a tear away as her own laughter died down. Kagome didn't mean anything by it, but a smirk spread to the monk's features. He suddenly clapped the hanyou on the back and declared loudly,

"You heard her, my friend. Your young wife wishes for a child, you should oblige immediately," continuing the innuendo from outside.

Inuyasha's eyes grew wide while his eyebrows knit with a crease as he stared back at his wife. She mirrored the expression, barely a blush creeping into her color, more surprised at having her innocent comment twisted in such a way than embarrassed. A bright flush did come to Inuyasha's face, however, as he turned a glare towards the monk, grin still plastered to his face.

"Why you motherfuuu…"

He stalled out when two tiny hands tapped on either side of his face. He blinked rapidly, staring at the two little girls in either arm with their tiny palms against his cheek. They both were curious about the face their weird uncle was making. Did their father say something bad?

"Miroku, don't be so crude…" Sango said in a reprimanding tone, glaring at her husband. He feigned innocence and appall at her accusation.

"Oh, I didn't really mean anything by it. It is no fault of mine that there is just the one way to create a child."

"The hell you didn't," Inuyasha barked, nearly barking in actuality from his rising temper.

The intensity of Sango's glare sent a shiver down Miroku's spine. He swallowed any additional comments he might have made and held his hands up in defeat.

"Sorry, sorry. I should not have said anything."

* * *

The trip home that night was silent for the young couple. Sango had to feed Ichiro before starting on dinner, so they chose that time to leave to start on their own meal.

Although the wording wasn't the best, Miroku had broached a subject the newlyweds had neglected to discuss as of yet. Though, from the quiet between the two as they marched into the forest, finding the various trees much more interesting than their partner, one might assume they planned to leave that discussion where it lie. Although, they hadn't forgotten. They simply wanted to ignore it.

Slight movement drew Inuyasha's attention, however, as his wife shifted the bundle of vegetables and herbs to her other arm. He blinked, turned his face away and then back. The quiet was getting to him a little bit. He didn't mind quiet moments, but there was a poignant unease to the silence this time.

"Do you want me to carry that?" he asked quietly.

Kaede had given Kagome a few vegetables from her garden, and the others were from a villager thanking Kagome for helping with his son's sprained ankle. Kagome tried to refuse the vegetables—she had just wrapped it and applied something for the swelling—but he insisted. The man knew—the village did—that Kagome was a little late getting a garden started. It was nice though, these ingredients would make for a nice vegetable soup for tonight, and she would be able to pickle the others with Sango's help.

"I've got it," she replied, glancing his direction. Their eyes met for a millisecond before Inuyasha turned away again, scratching his head. As they rounded a large tree, their house was fully in view. Kagome still stared her husband's way, chewing her lip. He glanced back awkwardly, feeling her eyes on him before quickly turning back away, clearing his throat slightly. Kagome frowned. He probably had the same thing on his mind as she did. She sighed, finally ready to talk.

"Um, Inuyasha, I know that—"

"Hey," he cut her off, finally looking at her fully, "that reminds me. What did Miroku give you earlier?"

Kagome squinted in confusion.

Inuyasha blinked. "When we came in," he clarified, "He gave you something—a little pouch."

"Oh yeah," she walked a little slower to pull something out of her clothing. She produced a little sewn purse. She stopped a few meters from their door and told Inuyasha to hold out his hand. She dumped a small, cloth-wrapped bundle into his palm for him to give her a look of confusion. She tilted her head with a smile, encouraging him to unwrap the little square of fabric.

"Seeds?"

Kagome nodded. Sango had said that it was a bit late in the year to plant, but the few vegetables Miroku had chosen would get at least a couple more yields. It would at least be good practice for when they could start a proper garden the following year. She carefully rewrapped the seeds and placed them back into the pouch, tucking them away. She shuffled the vegetables under her arm and led the way into the house.

"Damn," Inuyasha swore behind her as she gauged the water level for cooking.

"What is it?"

"We haven't even started on gettin' the dirt turned over yet. You wanna do that tomorrow?"

"Um," she started, determining they'd need to refill the water for the night. "I'll be with Kaede most of tomorrow, we're getting started on creating barriers. You think you could handle it on your own?" She turned around with a bucket in hand.

Inuyasha scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Who do you think I am? Of course I can handle it…" he paused, actually considering his very limited knowledge in planting seeds. He blinked, and asked seriously, "just loosening the soil, right? I know how to dig, at least."

Kagome nodded and shoved the bucket into his hands, asking him to run to the river for her. Kagome had the kindling cracking and catching the larger logs when her husband returned outside the small house. He pushed back the screen as Kagome began washing the vegetables in the leftover water from breakfast. She looked up at Inuyasha as he set the bucket beside her.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

Kagome bit her lip and went to slicing up their dinner.

"We need to discuss this. We should have talked about this more a while ago."

She heard him sit across from her with a heavy thud, fully understanding what she meant. She looked up to him, him staring away, playing with the fang that grew in crooked after he knocked his front teeth out the last time. Oftentimes he'd cut himself on it, playing with it like a child with their first loose tooth. She knew he was paying attention, but at the same time, he always got this way with tougher subjects. She stilled her hands, setting the small knife beside her cooking pot.

"Inuyasha. Can you look at me a second?"

He slowly obeyed, slit pupils constricting as he glanced past the fire. He took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter, giving her his full attention. Kagome nodded.

"I do want to…have a baby eventually…just, I mean..."

Inuyasha's eyes widened ever so slightly. Kagome bit her lip for a second, looking down to resume dinner prep. She swallowed her nerves as she continued with the next part in a much quieter voice.

"Honestly we should have started talking about this before we started having - doing - last night. It's not like there's condoms in this time period, so we… but I mean if we just never discussed this and kept at it like last night—and this morning—I'd get pregnant anyways, if I wasn't paying attention then I might've gotten pregnant just from last night so then—"

"Kagome," he interrupted, flaming red. "You're not—"

"I know, Inuyasha. There's no chance that I'd already be. I've got like three days until I'll start my period so I'm way past ovulation," Kagome plowed through, trying to get to her point though voicing her thoughts was embarrassing. She locked eyes with Inuyasha, his eyes wide and his face and throat completely flushed. He opened his mouth to say something, but she continued; "Do…do you want a child, Inuyasha? I didn't even think to ask you…" it was a silly question, but she needed something to say.

He blinked, glancing down at her hands. "Y-you sure you want to have a kid?"

The blush slowly began to drain from her face. _'what?'_ her heart slowly slid down into her gut. Her hands stilled as she took a moment to process the fact that…it wasn't like having a baby was a requirement for her to be happy. It was just that she had always pictured children coming into the equation when she thought of what marriage was supposed to be. Sure, some couples never had children, but she just thought—just dreamed—that she would become a mother someday. She thought, with Inuyasha, she and he would become parents. She had imagined and hoped that whatever children they had might inherit his ears. She imagined sleepless nights with a crying baby, frequent baths for a mud-caked toddler, tantrums, stroking a young one's back when they were crying…but if he didn't want to have children…well, she'd learn to accept that. She loved Inuyasha, and she wouldn't force him to care for a child he wouldn't want.

But the next words slipped past her lips without her consent.

"You don't?"

Inuyasha's eyes snapped back to his wife's. He crouched forward, slapping his hands on the floor. He shook his head quickly.

"That's not—! I do! I do."

His eyes softened as his gaze dropped to her chin, looking beyond her and just looking outward. He exhaled and he sat back into a more relaxed position. Kagome blinked slowly, trying to make out just what he'd meant by the comment if it didn't mean he didn't want a child.

"That would be…" His voice was almost a whisper. "To be a father…that's—I'd like that." His gaze rose again. "What I meant was, _are you sure you want to have __my__ kid_?"

Kagome's brows knit in confusion.

"Who else's kids would I have? You're _my_ husband, I love _you_."

He dipped his chin, never breaking his wife's gaze. "You're okay with that? You'd be willing to do that?"

Kagome huffed and rolled her eyes. "Have your babies?" The question was rhetorical.

Inuyasha sat back further. "Okay, okay. But what if they come out weird?"

"Weird how?"

"What if—" his ears twitched, "they look like me?"

Kagome groaned. "So that's what this is about? I thought you got over this a long time ago." She leaned forward, reaching for the top of his head. He leaned away but she scooted forward, catching an ear gently. She traced the edge with her thumb and rubbed tenderly. "I'm kind of hoping they do look like you." Inuyasha blushed, trying not to lean into her touch, although the soft massage felt pleasant.

Inuyasha scoffed, looking off to the side. "You're the only one who likes my ears, you know."

"Sango's girls seem fond of them," she joked. "And not just that, you're really good looking, you know? If we have a kid as attractive as you are, you'll be beating the suitors back night and day. You'll hate it."

"Stop that," he said, waving her away from his ears with a dark blush.

Kagome sat back on her calves, resting her hands in her lap. "So, you're okay with having children?" Inuyasha nodded. "Okay. Good. But um...can we wait a little while? It's just that I really want to spend more time with you before we bring a child into the equation."

Inuyasha glanced at the ceiling for a second. "Sure, you're younger than Sango, so a few years won't hurt anything right?"

Kagome nodded as she bit her lip. She started to think about how they would manage this as she returned to preparing their food. She set the pot on to bring to a boil, and then clapped her hands together.

"Okay, so…I'll need to pay better attention to my cycle, since I'll probably ovulate right in-between my periods. Wait, is that always right? Right in the middle?" She was mostly speaking to herself, but her husband interrupted her outward thoughts.

"I can tell, you know."

Kagome turned her attention back to the white-haired man with a puzzled look. His face was slightly heated, but not enough to be visible.

"Your, uh, cycle. I can tell the days when you're ready to, um…to conceive a baby. Your scent changes a few days leading up to then."

"Oh…that's...good to know," she flushed. "If that's the case, then we'll need to avoid, 'it' for like three days before. That's how long…" she swallowed her embarrassment, "semen lives in a woman's body."

"Oh." He flushed slightly. "Can I say something?"

"Yeah?"

"That day when we were at the creek, right before me and Miroku left?" He turned away as Kagome's eyes widened. He licked his lip and ended with, "So yeah…"

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! That must have been why I was so eager to get your clothes off," Kagome slapped her hands to her face, holding her cheeks. "Was that hard for you to do?"

Inuyasha quirked a brow. "To what? Resist you? I'm not a fuckin' dog, Kagome. And you weren't no bitch in heat..." he paused as she shot him a glare. "Okay, so I'll admit I was _tempted_ to scoop you up and run you back in the house—roof or not—but I knew better than to get you pregnant the first time. I'm not some kind of animal. I would have never even thought that way if you hadn't _started it_."

Kagome chuckled nervously as she apologized. He waved her off, smiling. Kagome nodded and chopped the last bits of flavorful herbs for the food. It would be a while before it was done cooking, so leaving it a fair distance from the fire, the couple spent a few minutes outside looking over their future garden plot. Kagome instructed exactly where she wanted the edges, and Inuyasha shoved sticks in to mark the corners. That done, they went in to eat.

They didn't talk a whole lot the rest of the night, but they didn't need to. This was the sort of silence Inuyasha preferred. They went back outside for a while, watching the clouds move in front of the tiny sliver of moon and the bright stars. Kagome reminded her husband how much she loved the stars in this era. He was told this dozens of times during their shard hunt, but he always enjoyed how sweetly she talked about the stars she never got to see in her world. She could tell him a million more times, and he's listen.

He drug her in after she yawned the first time. She insisted she was fine, but he made her lay down with him, holding her tightly against him. She was out a few minutes later. He buried his nose in her hair, enjoying her scent until her kicking fit started up again. He groaned. It probably would be like this every night—he realized as he locked his legs around hers. It was so much easier to restrict her sleep-thrashing while he was a hanyou.

* * *

...

* * *

Publishing at 3 am once again!

It's been a while, sorry, most fic writers have the legitimate excuse that college is hard, and finals are worse. I'm no different as finals are the next few weeks.

Also, about this chapter, I know they just got settled, but I still don't think they need to practice their baby making every night. They're in love, so squishies and cuddles can be enough sometimes. I just wanted to point out that (for the most part) there's no birth control in this era, so they'd need to be very wary of that issue. I want them to have a baby, but I first want them to get to know each other for a good while before then.

Then, there's the issue of Inuyasha, I realize that he's much more comfortable with himself now, but I feel like he still carries his childhood with him, and is inherently scared that his own child might go through discrimination like that, as implausible as it is in that village. They're going to discuss babies more in the future, but this is the largest chunk to get out of the way.


	8. Cute

**Cute**

Inuyasha awoke just before the dawn. A family of crows was having a domestic dispute not far off that would make it impossible for him to sleep until Kagome was ready to wake up. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his left hand, lifting it from around Kagome's slender middle. Blinking the blur out of his vision, he focused in on the back of Kagome's head with a smile. He rarely woke drowsily, but he had been sleeping so well before the wildlife disturbed him. Kagome's scent did that to him; the most restful sleep he experienced was with her scent surrounding him. The times he had hogged her mattress might have also had something to do with his restfulness, but it was her presence that was most comforting to him. Her current presence allowed him to bask in unawareness and awaken in stages.

He threw his arm back over his wife, squeezing her back against him and burrowing his face into her hair. He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. Leaning forward to do that, he realized his shoulder felt cramped. He leaned up to peer over Kagome. Looking helpless as ever, she slept peacefully with deep even breaths and a calm heart. None should suspect that being like her held such immense power within her.

Distracted for a moment, his ears swiveled to focus on her heart—strong, calm, even. He listened for a few more beats before his eyes lifted towards the top of her head, scanning over the situation. _'Ah,'_ he thought as he looked to where his arm disappeared under her hair. She lost her pillow at some point during the night and was now using his arm—which was completely numb by that point—as a substitute.

A slight heat crept into his cheeks when he noticed the positioning of their hands. While her right was curled beside her chin, her left was loosely gripping his numb right hand, the resting curl of his fingers were grasping the side of her palm. Her hand looked so dainty in his larger one. By the gods, she was cute. Well, not all of her was cute at the moment, parts of her bangs were sticking straight up and he was sure she was drooling on his sleeve. However, the way her lips were parted slightly, her eyelashes fanned out against her cheek, her hair tucked behind her adorable little rounded ears—

He slapped his left hand over his eyes and rolled onto his back with a groan. He really had it bad if he was attracted to her _ears_. His blush was dark in the cheeks below his hand. Was he a woman? Surely, no man was supposed to feel…_feel_…_**this**_.

"Damn," he muttered, pushing the hair from his forehead. He wasn't just a man; he was a hanyou. Hanyou weren't supposed to fall in love—he had done so twice—and they certainly weren't supposed to feel love in return. He was probably the only lucky bastard that would achieve that.

His heart was pounding in his ears. Some lucky, _lucky_ bastard he was. He took a deep breath to calm his heart and let it out with a sigh. There were a few thoughts connected to this topic flittering around the edges of his mind, but he pushed those away. They would be addressed at a later time.

He glanced back at the woman sleeping beside him. With the rising sun returning the world to that of its true colors, the reds and blues of Kagome's jars, the brown hues of the walls and floorboards, and the yellow of that odd backpack—they all began to stand out against the black and white of his wife's form. With black hair strewn over her pristine white kosode, she looked much the same to him as dawn's light reached onto the forest.

'_It could stay like this_,' he thought. He rewrapped his arm around her. He pulled her against him once again, drawing a whimper from her this time. Worried he had woken her, he stilled until he could recognize the rhythm of her breath as that of her normal sleeping rate. He then settled himself in more comfortably behind her. He wasn't very fond of lying around doing nothing, but he was content to lay like this as long as possible.

* * *

When the sun had been up over an hour, he figured it was time to get up if they wanted breakfast before Kagome should head to Kaede's. He leaned up over Kagome, rubbing her arm.

"Oi, it's time to get up," he said softly. When she didn't stir, he rubbed her arm a bit harder.

"C'mon. Up."

She clenched her eyes shut and whined stubbornly.

"Do you plan on keeping my arm?" He joked, lightly tugging with his right shoulder. Her eyes blinked at that, blearily glancing up at her husband. He raised his brows expectantly. She squinted in confusion, before lifting her head to turn her gaze to her pillow. He draped his left arm back over her as they sat up together.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled. Realizing their hands were still entwined, she tried to pull hers away, but Inuyasha gripped tighter. She slowly directed a look of mild confusion to the hanyou man. He glanced off to the side with a soft 'keh' as color tinted his cheeks. She took a quick peek at the arm over her belly.

"Inuyasha," she started, smiling, "for some reason, I never figured you for the cuddling type. It's _so_ cute."

Inuyasha scowled deeply. He slowly released her hand and retracted his arm from her waist. He crossed his legs and started shaking the numbness from his right arm. Kagome's smile receded.

"Is your arm numb?" She asked with genuine concern.

"Yeah," he bluntly replied.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again.

"It's fine," he muttered, clenching his hand as the last of the prickly sensation left the limb. He pulled the covers back and stood, tromping over towards the door.

"Inuyasha?" She called, as he dropped onto the dirt portion of the room. He glanced back at her, scowl in place, albeit less intense. When she just stared at him, he rolled his eyes, snatching a water bucket in either hand as he walked out the door.

"Hey!" She hollered with an outstretched hand.

"I'll be right back, geez," he grumbled as the screen flapped shut.

Kagome glared at the doorway, bringing her hand to her hip.

"Inuyasha what the hell?" _'Did I do something?'_

With a huff, she flipped to covers back and started putting the bedding away.

* * *

"Kagome?"

The young Miko sat perfectly still, as she had been instructed, but given the awkward flow of energy from her, the older Miko could tell the girl's focus was elsewhere.

"Focus, child…Are ye listening, Kagome?"

Kagome blinked at the second mention of her name. Of course, this broke her concentration completely, shattering the pathetic excuse of a barrier she had spent the last who-knows-how-long working on.

"A-ah! Sorry Kaede! I'll start over!" She panicked, trying to sit up straighter and reestablish the barrier.

"No matter," the grey-haired Miko sighed, "we can pick this back up tomorrow morning. Inuyasha is on his way here."

Kagome blinked. "He is?"

She cringed at the cracking of Kaede's back as the older Miko stood. The grey-haired woman then sent the younger a curious gaze.

"Ye sound surprised."

Kagome sighed, coming to rise beside the elder Miko.

"Well…" the black-haired Miko began, touching a knuckle to her lips and following the older woman back inside, "he seemed mad at me this morning. I didn't want to start fighting so early in the morning so I haven't said a word to him since he started coppin' a 'tude. I was so sure I'd be walking home alone."

Kaede gave a nod. Kagome finally felt her demonic husband's youki as she drew nearer. Suddenly remembering something, Kaede faced back around.

"And ask the monk to come by here some time, when you pass by in the morning."

Kagome raised a brow.

"Miroku? Sure, but how come?"

"I was never formally trained in the methods to produce barriers and the like, while he was. I feel the monk would be a more suitable instructor for this particular skill set."

Kagome nodded as her husband's presence crashed up against her senses. Seconds later the door flap flew open as the dog hanyou barged in. He looked between the two women before crossing his arms in his sleeves, and asked; "You all finished yet?" usual scowl in place.

"Uh…" Kagome looked over to Kaede, who gave an affirmative nod to both, and answered to Inuyasha; "Aye, we are finished for today."

Kagome turned back to the antsy hanyou, "Just let me get my stuff and I'll be ready to leave."

Inuyasha gave a curt nod. However, after a few seconds he began bouncing his heel impatiently when he saw how leisurely Kagome was placing her new arrows into her quiver. Another few seconds passed before he huffed and rolled his eyes, muttering about slow people. He declared he'd be outside watching grass grow and waiting for Kagome to hurry up. The screen flapped closed behind him, leaving Kagome with a frown. She rubbed her forehead, completely missing the amused look of the grey-haired Miko. Kagome stuffed a small bundle into her clothing and collected the rest of her things, including her bow. She waved goodbye to Kaede and stepped out into the little-known world of her husband's moods. He was facing her as she approached, a hand on her hip.

"Alright, Inuyasha, I'm all done," she gave with a frown.

Inuyasha's frown cracked into a grin.

"Great."

Before the poor girl had a chance to look confused, her enthusiastic husband snatched her right hand and pulled it over his right shoulder. He bent down to grip her behind the knees, picked her up and set off. She squealed from the sudden motion, but gripped her arms around his neck securely, holding on for the ride. He chuckled when he finally felt her relax on his back, already halfway to the tree line. He was careful in avoiding any small branches that might hit her as he took a shortcut through the thick of the trees. Stopping just past the house, he bent down to let her off. As she stepped off, he turned to face her.

"Okay, close your eyes."

"What? Why?"

He gently gripped her fingers, lifting her hands out in front of her. A warmth spread through Kagome's chest as she looked down at their hands—how gently his fingers encased hers.

"Just do it."

At the sound of his voice, her gaze lifted to perfect golden eyes—gleaming with anticipation—and an expectant grin, promising something Kagome didn't yet understand.

"Okay," she uttered, not even bothering to conceal the flush that had spread to her cheeks. She closed her eyes and Inuyasha led her along by the fingers, walking backwards to the other side of the house. He stopped just a few meters past and released her hands.

"You can look now."

Kagome opened her eyes and a slow smile took over her features. What had been a rough patch of earth, riddled with weeds and rocks that morning had been completely transformed. Neat, straight rows scoured the freshly tilled soil. The rows were even sectioned off by what Kagome suspected as plant type. She took a step forward to admire the work.

"Hey, you even put a fence up!" she said happily, smile directed towards the golden-eyed man. His own grin couldn't get any wider. He leapt over the fence and landed between the rows of earth. He began pointing out what was planted where, where he had hit rocks, and how some of the dirt was different colors in places. He went on like that, looking back at Kagome every few seconds with that exuberant grin on his face.

She forgot he could get like this. He looked so excited—so proud of the work he had done. She recalled that this smile was like the one he gave her mother—his now mother-in-law—upon being praised for doing something good. She had always been quick to praise Inuyasha, probably moreso than her own children. She seemed to instinctively know the boy rarely received positive attention throughout his time on earth. Like this, smiling and ecstatic, Inuyasha reminded his wife of a little boy—the very little boy who needed and deserved praise—showing off the drawings he made at school.

She loved being reminded of how cute Inuyasha really was.

She leaned against the fence, listening to Inuyasha talk freely. She idly ran her hand over the fence, made of small trees and branches. Four panels on four sides left the corners over for easy access. She wondered how he had gotten all the twigs and knots off the branches. Last she remembered, they were still borrowing Sango's axe.

"You did all this by yourself?" She asked during a pause.

Inuyasha put his hands on his hips, looking over the rows and nodding. He looked back at Kagome with a small shrug.

"I had Miroku show me how to make rows and plant the different seeds, but other than that, yeah."

She chuckled, scanning over the garden again.

"That's amazing, Inuyasha. It looks really good, too."

Her brows knit for a second.

"That—that's a lot of work for one person, how did you..?"

Inuyasha's exuberant grin was immediately replaced with a smug smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I ain't no cheap labor, you know that," he said with a scoff.

She chuckled again and leaned back into the fence. She felt a lump and was reminded of the bundle in her clothes.

"Oh, hey, I have something for you," she beckoned him over.

He cocked his head to the side for a moment before righting himself and jumping over the fence to land before Kagome. She dug in her clothing and his head cocked to the other side as she pulled out a bundle wrapped in cloth and clean leaves. She pulled the cloth back to reveal a dumpling or bun of some sort.

"Ah! It got smooshed! Sorry, it must have happened when I was on your back."

"Oh, I smelled food, but just thought it was just your lunch," he plucked the bun out of her hand, "It's still fine," he said, referring to the somewhat flattened nature of the treat.

"Kaede make this?"

The young Miko shook her head.

"Rin, actually."

Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously.

"Rin made this?"

He sniffed about the food tentatively.

Kagome rolled her eyes, assuring him that she'd already had one and it tasted fine. It wasn't spicy or anything he shouldn't like. She didn't know exactly what Rin used, but it was actually a bit on the sweeter side. He shrugged and bit off a chunk of it, contesting with another shrug that it wasn't bad, considering an 11-year-old had made it.

"I'm glad you're in a better mood, now," she commented quietly.

"Hm?" he asked with his mouth full.

"Oh, it's just—" she sighed. "Why were you so mad this morning?"

He swallowed his bite and studied the uneaten half of the bun.

"I didn't mean nothin' by it…and I wasn't _really_ mad, I just—well—you said somethin' that—"

"What did I say?" Kagome interrupted.

Inuyasha's brow furrowed with a glare at his food. He made an indignant noise in the back of his throat.

"You said I—you called me…well, cute." He looked away and took another bite.

Kagome blinked a few times.

"You _are_ cute," she stated with certainty.

Inuyasha began to sputter.

"Th-that's! Just, no, d…K-Kagome! You can't say that!" he tried to explain, flushing red.

"Well, why not?!" She put a hand on her hip.

"It's…it's not something you say to a man, ever! You might get used to calling me that… and…you might say it around other people."

"Since when do you care about what other people think?!" Kagome slapped her forehead with a groan.

Inuyasha growled, trying to disguise the darker blush in his cheeks.

"Because _certain_ other people are my _friends_," he ground out.

Kagome arched an eyebrow.

"Miroku?"

"And Shippo. They hear you callin' me cute, they'd never let me live it down."

He took another bite, chewing violently.

Kagome sighed. "You're talking about this morning? And you were holding me while I slept…it was really sweet…and you like doing that right? You don't just do it for my sake?"

He didn't answer, but he looked away embarrassedly for her response.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Inuyasha shoved the rest of the food in his mouth, nearly choking on Kagome's next words.

"But it's still cute."

He sent her a benign glare in between coughs. Kagome sighed and leaned back on the fence. She caught his eyes again as he swallowed the last bite. She smiled softly.

"Thank you for taking care of the garden, Inuyasha. I mean it."

He let out a defeated sigh.

"And I'll try not to call you _cute_, okay?" she added.

Inuyasha scoffed. He realized he was making a bigger deal out of this than he should...but it was embarrassing, considering the connotation of cute things…he smirked as an idea came to mind.

"I can still call you cute though?"

The reaction she gave—wide-eyed and red-faced—was exactly the one he wanted, but he continued with; "or beautiful."

He paused, letting his smirk fall into a genuine smile. She turned away from him, uttering a timid, "y-yeah. You can call me that."

She bit her lip. Was that the first time he had said that?

"You are beautiful, y'know that?"

A warm breeze blew through, tugging at the couple's clothes and mussing their hair. The air stilled and Inuyasha heard Kagome trying to spit out the hair that had blown into her mouth.

"You okay there?" he asked, chuckling, when she started pulling the last bit from the corner of her lips.

"Yeah," she nodded. She looked back at him and he just gazed back. He just stared at her—looked at her with a softness in his eyes and the gentlest of smiles—the sort of smile he only shared with her. She could hardly breathe, and she couldn't look away with him looking at her that way. She had called him attractive last night, so why couldn't she just brush it off as he had? Could he see something as lovely in her as she did him?

He was gorgeous to her. His golden-yellow eyes were framed in thick dark lashes. His thick silvery-white hair tumbled in perfectly imperfect tresses down his back and solid shoulders. His strong calloused hands were tipped in deadly weapons that could be so gentle with her.

'_I can only speak for what I've seen_,' she thought with a smile.

Inuyasha was confused when Kagome grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the house. He was more bewildered when, once inside, she knocked him off balance by pushing on his chest and pressing him against the wall.

* * *

...

* * *

It's not even midnight yet!

Wow, a few weeks turned into almost two months! I am sorry, I got the flu during my winter break and it butted up right next to the start of the new quarter. I'm finally feeling better and got my classes sorted out. This was actually another chickening-out chapter, sorry there's not even very good fluff. I won't lose my nerve this coming time because I have set those last two lines up to force me to not chicken out. And then I have a few very cute fluffy chapters I'll throw in that are already written but not typed.

Today (20th) is the New Moon and also my Birthday, cool! But you are cooler!_(is that even a thing people say?_) Many of you were still leaving reviews while I was out of commission for the long period, and I thank you for that!


	9. A Little Fumbling

**A Little Fumbling**

Inuyasha blinked down at Kagome for a second, before she began plucking at the ties to his clothing. An awkward, crooked smile graced his lips as he asked what she was doing.

"What's it look like?" she playfully replied. He offered zero resistance when she pulled his robes open and ran her hand over his chest and around his ribs.

"It looks like you need out of this," he replied, laying his hands on her shoulders, and pushing her slightly back. With no hesitation, he went straight to the ties on her hakama, letting them drop around her feet. She giggled when he pulled the other ties open and his brows scrunched at the sight of her modern day sarashi. She wasn't wearing this the last time. He tried to pull on the bow at the front, but Kagome reached up to his hand to still it.

"Inuyasha, that's—"

She was cut off by a quiet growl as clawed hands that shifted to her hips drug her against her husband's body. She pushed against his shoulders.

"Stop that," she commanded, a playful smirk on her lips.

"Stop what?" he returned, a knowing tone evident in his voice.

"You've already had a good look at me, I think it's my turn."

Inuyasha swallowed down a bit of nervousness that rose into his throat, and gave her a chuckled 'nah'. He raised his hands to her shoulder, ducked them under the hem of her clothes drawing it down her arm as the cloth fell away, making her tense and blush. The skin on her arms was soft and smooth until his fingers ran over one, two, three and four raised lines on her right arm. His face fell at the reminder of how she had gotten those scars. He dropped one hand and traced the edges of the scars with one fingertip as a quiet apology fell from his lips.

"I've got other scars; it's nothing to worry about. This one isn't even from then," she twisted her arm to show that one of the pale scars was at a different angle from the other three, "I think this one was from Kohaku." She looked up to see that his face hadn't changed any and continued, bringing her hands up. She pointed to another white scar on a knuckle.

"And this one was from home-ec last year. I think I was trying to make crepes—which is food—so it was completely unrelated to anything in this time," she looked away for a second in thought before returning it and reaching out to touch Inuyasha's belly.

"You still have that scar from when Sessho…" she paused as she finally took the time to look over Inuyasha's chest and belly. This was not what she remembered. Last time she checked, over three years ago, he had the skinny body of a fifteen-year-old boy. Hadn't he stopped growing years ago? Isn't that how demons aged? They got to a certain point and stopped growing, right? And Inuyasha had been alive a lot longer than fifteen—'_Wait. Maybe that's wrong. I never have asked him how old he was. What if he hadn't stopped growing yet?_'

The slightly more visible muscles on his belly when he exhaled was the most noticeable part, but the line of darker silver hair up his belly certainly hadn't been there in all the times she had bandaged him up. Well, obviously he had had _hair_ just not this high. A second had passed and Kagome flushed bright red, looking back up to her husband's face. Did even his face look a little older, and she just hadn't noticed? Were his shoulders a little broader, his arms a little stronger, his jaw a little squarer? He had definitely aged in the three years they spent separated, just as she had.

"Yeah, I don't think it's ever going to heal," he said, drawing Kagome from her thoughts. She blinked, trying to remember what they were talking about. Why were they talking about anything given that they were both more or less half naked? Kagome shook her head and tried getting her thoughts back to square one.

"Because he used so much poison I don—"

Kagome pulled him into a kiss, grabbing him by the back of the neck. She squeezed the skin of his neck and roughly pressed into the kiss, which became more heated with a muffled growl and calloused hands digging into her back and pressing her against the hanyou man as much as possible. She could still taste the sweetness of the treat on his lips.

They accidentally chinked teeth when she shifted her grip around his back. Inuyasha pulled away, breathing heavily and asking if her teeth were okay—fragile as human teeth were—but her response was to move against his neck, kissing, nipping and intermittedly panting against his skin. He coughed and tilted his head to the side, looking down at her with half-lidded eyes. He rubbed against her back, then bringing his hands around the front. Met with her upper undergarment he just slipped his hands under, pushing the garment up and out of the way to cup and play with her breasts properly. Of course, this earned a snicker from Kagome who pushed away from him and dislocated their hands. She reached around and undid the bra quickly, haphazardly tossing it away. She came back to him, but didn't let him return to groping her, coming to kiss his chest instead. She kissed up and nipped his collarbone, her hands roaming his chest and sides. When she felt his nipples beneath her fingertips she flicked over them. She ran her hands back down his ribs, kissing down his breastbone before moving over to his left nipple. She licked over it just as he did hers, but a pair of hands on her shoulders and a questioning "Kagome?" drew her away from the activity to see a pair of golden eyes gleaming down to her.

He raised an eyebrow with his confused expression. Kagome flashed her own confused expression for a second.

"Don't."

'_Don't what?...wait, is he one of those guys that isn't sensitive?'_ What a pity. However, she knew there were other places he was _very_ sensitive. She flashed him a smile before looking down between their bodies to tug on the ties of his lower garments. He flushed and pulled the Tessiga away before his hakama fell. Inuyasha quickly kicked those away, muttered 'hold on,' set the Tessaiga against the wall, loosened his last garment and yanked it away.

He was less than surprised when a small hand found its way around his most intimate bits of flesh. Kagome encroached on him, leaning her head against his chest and looking down between their bodies at her hand. She could hear his breath catch from just her leaning further into him. She moved her hand just slightly and heard him gasp then huff into her hair. She was just curious, looking down where her hand was and started slowly moving, watching how his body reacted and hearing the quiet huffs and sounds before Inuyasha firmly gripped her shoulders and told her she had to stop doing that. She looked back up to meet her husband's nervous eyes, smirked, and added a second hand.

Inuyasha squinted and added, "I'm serious," to his argument, though the hands on her shoulders made no move to push her away. If he really wanted her to stop, he could very well make her. Kagome stilled her hands temporarily and kissed his chest. She kissed lower on his chest and when she passed his ribcage, he shuddered. She adjusted her hands to hold him more comfortably. She kissed partway down his belly before coming to stand on her knees.

"Kagome?"

The young woman looked up her husband's body with a questioning gaze. Inuyasha seemed startled for a second, seeing the way she was looking at him—and with her chin just above the level her hands were at. He glanced away from her eyes and in various spots in the room before returning with a flustered, "W…well, I'm not gonna stop you." That would make him a complete idiot.

Kagome nodded, turning back down. She moved one hand away to place on his hip. She tested the waters with just a kiss and the tip of her tongue. She nearly glanced up with his shaky exhale, but quickly drew her gaze back down to his belly. She knew he was watching, and she would just lose her nerve if she met his eyes right now. She took a breath and slid her tongue over more of him, hearing a quiet grunt from his throat. She did that once more before wrapping her lips around the tip. She didn't have a clue if she was doing this right, technically, but she'd try what she'd heard of or read of, and go from there.

'_She's actually doing it.' _Inuyasha tilted his head up to stare at the rafters for a second before more moist heat enveloped him. He looked back down, and she had moved again and…

'_Shit, is that her ton—why is she—keep doing that!'_

He had the strongest urge to move his hips, or grab onto something, but he would rather not do that to Kagome. He'd never get her to agree to this again—not that he'd ever ask it. He found his claws dangerously close to digging into the wooden wall, another thing he'd rather not gouge out, so all he could do with his hands was ball them into fists at his sides.

He opened one eye to look down at her and found with watching her, the urge was much stronger, but… he still didn't wish to stare off elsewhere. He groaned when she clawed into his hip and brought her mouth a bit further than she had previously. His legs were bunching up terribly, standing stock still like that. He would make sure to sit down or lay the next time she decided to do this—because he would never ask it. Never.

He really had to at least stand in a more comfortable position. He slowly repositioned one leg.

Something hit the ground with a loud _**CLACK**_ and both Inuyasha and Kagome jumped at the sound. She had pulled away with the startle, but Inuyasha was suddenly very aware that Kagome owned a set of semi-sharp incisors, that thought having jumped to the forefront of his mind.

"What was that?" Kagome asked, her hand still wrapped around him.

"That was—" he looked down in the direction of the sound, Tessaiga lying on its side.

"I kicked over Tessaiga."

Kagome nodded once, and stroked down once with her hand. Inuyasha hissed at the sensation despite himself.

"H-hey you don't gotta keep doin' that you know. You can stop if—"

Kagome licked over the tip, interrupting him.

"I'm good," she wrapped her lips around him, continuing. She brought her hand away from his hip to add to the mix, fondling and gently squeezing. Inuyasha hunched his shoulders and gasped over her. He made the stupidest sounds, he knew he did, but Kagome was doing that thing with her tongue again—and with what she was doing with that added hand—why was he worried about her teeth? She was being careful, and she was doing wonderf—

He found his fingers had wormed into her hair though he told himself he wouldn't pull her hair. When had he done that? He opened one eye and pried his hands out of the strands. She didn't seem surprised when he set one hand on her head; she just slowly looked up at him. Meeting those lovely brown eyes kickstarted the inklings of his pending orgasm.

He was ready to just enjoy it when the thought that Kagome might not want him to had him gritting his teeth.

"Kago—stop," he gasped.

"Mnn?" She hummed, both hands and mouth still occupied. But she didn't stop what she was doing, breathing through her nose onto moist flesh as she swirled her tongue about the tip. It was involuntary that his body locked up when she moved back down.

Of course Kagome knew what was happening, and she stayed put, trying to swallow. She coughed when she pulled away—she would definitely try getting him to eat more fruit. She touched her fingers to her chin, and looked down at her chest. She grimaced before shaking her head she started to get up when she noticed how her panting husband slid down the wall, looking completely out of it for a moment before blinking his eyes open. His eyes widened slightly when their gaze fell on Kagome.

"Shit, Kagome, sorry."

He grabbed the sleeve of his discarded suikan and leaned closer to her. She flinched away as he brought the cloth up to her face, but relaxed when she realized what he was doing. He wiped over her chin and when he got to her chest, he muttered; "I'll warn you better the next time."

His eyes opened wide in realization of how thoughtless that sounded. That was implying there _would_ be a _next_ time. When Kagome looked up at his surprised expression he averted his eyes, and Kagome saw one of the _guiltiest _expressions cross his features. She sighed and piped up with a shrug, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Eh, I pretty much knew what was going on…" Her last words were quieter, "and when."

His ears flicked forward once at her words before pulling against his head again. He pulled his hand back and scanned her face. Her cheeks had turned pink from his scrutiny, but she didn't seem mad or _that_ embarrassed. He flashed a sheepish smile. After which, he immediately tackled her with a kiss, making sure to tuck his hand under her head so she didn't bonk it on the floor through what little padding her strewn-out clothes provided. He pulled away from her, smiling down at her surprised expression. An expression that quickly changed with a smirk and a hand on the side of his face. She led his face back down to hers. She opened her mouth and, obligingly, he slipped his tongue inside—only for her to shove him away a second later, not attempting to contain her sudden fit of giggles.

"Eh? What's so funny?"

She covered her mouth when she snorted accidently. She giggled a second more before replying.

"You still taste like food."

He let out a bark of laughter before shaking his head and leaning his forehead against hers.

"Yeah?" Inuyasha chuckled.

"Yeah."

She grabbed his hair and pulled his lips right back. The sweet taste of the treat from earlier was quickly helping her over the taste she'd been worried about.

When they finally broke for breath, Inuyasha mentioned that she should let him have his mouth back at some point.

Before Kagome could send a playful question his way, he was nuzzling his face into her neck again. She busied her hands with stroking his ears while he moved to her chest. From what Kagome felt, he really enjoyed playing with the flesh there, leaning awkwardly on his elbows to cup both breasts, squeezing and fondling—measuring their weight and watching the pliant skin shape around his fingers.

"_Oh yes, he's male all right,_" she thought whimsically.

She shifted under him when he brushed his thumbs over pebbled flash, and squeaked when he replaced one thumb with his tongue and lips. Her attentions to his ears ceased when he did the same to the other, kissing and licking firmly. He drug his tongue down from there, to her ribcage, kissing her at the very tip of her breastbone. Kagome bit her lip when he continued down. He dipped his tongue into her naval and she squirmed away from him, exhaling in a sharp note. He smirked and continued down her belly when she squeezed his shoulder to stop him.

"Wait! What are you…"

He looked back to her flushed face, embarrassed and nervous. Despite her question, she knew exactly what her silvery-haired hanyou was doing. He squeezed his palms against her hip.

"You'll like it," he assured her with a false confidence that did little to conceal his sudden embarrassment.

"Hey, I wanna do that to you, too," he looked away for a second, rubbing the pads of his thumbs over her hips more to soothe himself than the lovely Miko below him. His eyes drifted down to where she clamped her legs shut, her hips twisted awkwardly away from him. He breathed a little deeper and caught her nervous brown eyes once again. His eyes were soft, unconsciously conveying to Kagome his desire to at least see her opened up to him.

Kagome swallowed, her only reply was the way she dropped her head back and bit her lip. Inuyasha nodded to himself. He slid both hands to her knees, guiding them open. Of course, he had seen her—and even Sango—naked many times, mostly unintentional glimpses that ended with him face down in the dirt, so he knew what a woman looked like, overall, but this was certainly new. Kagome had allowed—even encouraged—him to look more recently, but this was actually the first time he had seen her _fully_, in this vulnerable state. He knew what she felt like. The thought reminded his body that a separate piece of himself (that was quickly readying to feel her again) knew this part as well as the hand skimming down the soft skin of her inner thigh. His heart was racing as he bent one of her knees to kiss the inside of it.

She exhaled sharply when his opposite hand's fingertips brushed down the moist center. Inuyasha's eyes shot back to Kagome's upturned face at the sound. He had barely touched her, but it was enough to remind him of an odd problem he had. He pulled his hand away to stare at the sharp talons attached to the end of each finger. He tapped the claws against his hand. Would that bother her if he only got to use his fingers once a month..? It would bother the hell out of him, that was for sure. It was his intention to pleasure her with his mouth, but he definitely wanted to see…

A possible solution smacked him over the head when Kagome shifted slightly, obviously starting to feel uncomfortable. He kissed her leg as he mulled over the solution he'd thought of. He had never tried _that_ before, and with good reason.

Kagome's eyes snapped open at a horrifying cracking sound. It was followed immediately by a series of crunches, like a dog gnawing on a bone. She sat up halfway, staring wide-eyed at her husband—the obvious source of the sound.

"What. Are. You. **Doing**?!"

Inuyasha echoed her horrified expression as he pulled his fingers away from his mouth. An odd squawk came out of his open mouth as he tried to explain.

"Uh—I—uh, uhh…" he held his hand back up looking from his hand and back to her several times, hoping she would get the gist and he wouldn't have to explain aloud. The thumb and first two fingers on his right hand were missing the majority of the claw past his fingertips. When she started blankly back, he swallowed down what he could of his distress and continued trying to spell it out for her.

"I… c-claws are—I didn't think that...they're not the best idea for—I know I said I wanted to—but first I wanted to see...what—uh—when I…dammit…" He stared back at his hand. That was it. He'd made a complete fool of himself. He ruined the moment. Why didn't he realize how weird it was for him to be fucking chewing on his claws during something like this?

"Since you've got most of them off already…i-it's okay for right now…but you don't have to."

"Uh…" was all he could manage as Kagome flopped onto her back, covering her face with her hands. He gulped and stuck the last two claws between his teeth just to be safe. He saw her whole body cringe at the sound.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, kissing her knee.

"Don't say sorry," she said, lifting her hands from her face, "you've said it like three times in the past five minutes, it's not like you."

When she saw that his ears were flattened down, she sent a smile his way and reached out to poke his knee with her toe. He looked down bewilderedly at her foot for a second. The slightest of smiles perched itself on his mouth and he grasped her ankle, pushing it back to bend at the knee like the other leg. He scooted a bit further and kissed her belly again, hands on her legs for leverage. He dipped his tongue into her navel excepting her to gasp and squirm, but this she _giggled _and squirmed away from him.

"You really like that, huh?" he asked with a smirk. He wrapped his clawed hand around her thigh.

"No," she replied, trying not to smile.

"Liar."

She was ticklish, that could be fun. He decided to try and remember that. His clawless hand slipped between the two of them, rubbing circles and feeling around before sliding one finger inside her. He sat up so he could look at her properly, pushing one leg further open with his left hand. She bit her lip but didn't lift her gaze from his face. His own gaze was focused entirely on where his hand was as he watched his fingers do a number of different things—some that had Kagome squirming a lot. He probably wouldn't show so much interest if he'd been raised around adult magazines and videos like the boys from her era.

He pressed his left hand to her belly when she jerked a bit more violently with his play. He pulled his right hand away, leaning down to replace that hand with his mouth. He felt her legs tense and he tightened his grip around them before tentatively testing the waters as she had done. He curled his tongue in his mouth for a moment, then drew it over her again. He wondered what to do for a second, before deciding it didn't matter, so long as he was doing _something_ to try and get a rise out of her. She had done this to him really well, and she didn't know what she was doing, right?

If it weren't for Inuyasha holding her legs in place, she would be squirming under him quite a bit. The weirdness factor was still there, but she actually liked the feel of this act a bit more. He kissed a little higher once, and Kagome couldn't help herself.

"Stay there," she said with loud exhale. Inuyasha's ears twitched at the sound. He ran his tongue over the area again and felt her hips push against the hand holding her down. He pulled away for a second and a surprisingly unhappy noise from his wife was directed down to him. Of course, he had every intention of coming back there and with two clawless fingers; he replaced his tongue, rubbing in circles. Kagome let out a shaky breath. He glanced up at her—not missing the way her hands had begun to twist into the hakama under her. She was looking away from him, but the flush of her skin and the way her body moved when she breathed…

He blinked the sudden blur from his eyes. He returned to what he had been doing, this time using his fingers to assist in getting her more excited. She had used both hands on him after all; he might as well try to give her as much stimulation as he could offer with just the one clawless hand.

"Let go…" she panted. "Please…"

With her request, Inuyasha realized just how much pressure he'd been using to hold her down. The last thing he wanted was to leave marks on her skin from keeping her still. He was preventing her from moving entirely, and while he had remained still for her, he also knew that was unpleasant. At least he wouldn't risk choking if she moved. His hand remained on her right hip, but just barely.

And she was moving, just barely. Her slight squirming didn't throw him off that much. He would pause briefly, then continue on with a little more concentration. She lifted herself off the floor slightly once, and Inuyasha heard the words 'oh my god,' leave her lips in a breathy whisper. That was interesting.

He moved his tongue a bit more, kissing intermittedly, and pushed his fingers within her a bit deeper. She rose up a second time, this time repeating those words a bit louder. She did this a third time, repeating the words several times over. Inuyasha's ears flicked when those words broke into random syllables and he heard bits of his name thrown in. Her body tensed and she lifted up again, this time voicing nothing more than a high pitched moan that got cut off when she slapped a hand over her mouth. Inuyasha wanted to look at her face—part of him throbbing and begging to for him to look—but it was hard from this angle, and he certainly didn't want to risk stopping. Her body was quivering for several seconds.

"St—p!" She gasped when the quivering had only just begun to lessen. Inuyasha pulled back to look at her again. Her breathing was ragged as Inuyasha pulled himself over top of her. His body barely made contact with hers as he let her catch her breath. She looked so cute with glassy eyes and hair beginning to stick to her face.

'_That was definitely—'_Kagome began to think.

"I have goosebumps," she casually relayed. Inuyasha rubbed a hand over her arm. She certainly shouldn't be cold so…

"You do," he agreed with the slightest of smirks.

Kagome giggled. She reached up to lace her fingers behind her husband's neck. He chuckled. With her grip secure, she lifted one leg to rub over his thigh, encouraging him to get started. He looked away from her for a second, his gaze naturally falling on her breasts, before returning to her face.

"You said something about…being on top?"

Kagome blinked.

"Ah, I did, didn't I? You remembered that?"

"Of course I did," Inuyasha replied without thinking. He immediately regretted his eager tone, he didn't want her to think he was a total pervert—even if that thought crossed his mind about a hundred times since she'd said it.

"So you want to…"

"Do I just lay on my back or—" his tone was even more excited now.

'_Fuck,'_ he swore. He'd just said he wasn't a pervert. Why did he have to sound so damned enthusiastic?!

Kagome looked away embarrassedly. She nodded. Inuyasha swallowed, and _slowly_—not overzealously—lifted himself off his wife. He lay beside her, and she sat up to lean over him. She looked nervous, though. She chewed her lip and it was starting to make Inuyasha nervous as well, though he couldn't determine why she was nervous in the first place. Hadn't she been the one to declare she'd be on top for their next time? That wouldn't do.

He reached under her arms and drug her closer to his body.

"I wanna kiss you," he said. He didn't know why he was saying that. It wasn't a lie but it wasn't exactly a normal thing for him to say either. It did have the desired effect, however, bringing a smile to the lovely girl's lips. She leaned over the rest of the way and kissed him sweetly. She went to pull away and Inuyasha licked her lip in play, earning a stupid-sounding—adorable—laugh from her. She raised an eyebrow at him before shaking her head. She then stood on her knees and threw a leg over him, coming to straddle his belly. She kissed his forehead, his cheek, his nose and…not that he didn't like being kissed, but she was sitting directly above a little piece of him begging to—

What the hell was wrong with him? Screw that. He had a gorgeous young woman sitting on him, showing him that she loved him, kissing his face and letting him stroke through her soft hair and fondle her breast and—when had he started doing that?

Kagome giggled when she sat up, tapping Inuyasha's hand for him to release her hair. She let the hand on her breast stay a few seconds more, squeezing her own hand over his until she gently pulled it away. She took a deep breath and moved lower on his body—taking note of the groan when she passed over the stiff bit of him. She stood on her knees and tried to get her body positioned properly. She set her hands on his chest and belly let herself back down—

—A little too quickly and completely missed her target. She slipped down against him, only ever sliding against his underside. Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe she'd screwed up something like this. She looked up at Inuyasha, and that only embarrassed her more. He held a somewhat confused expression. She squeaked, looking down to the 'intended target'. She tried to calm herself, gently gripping him, and raising herself up again. This time she made sure she was aligned and _slowly_ came down over him.

She felt his hands on her ribs and she looked up to him staring back at her. Just looking at her. She couldn't tell from his face what he was thinking, he was just staring. Kagome blushed brightly. She began to tremble from embarrassment.

"I can't do this," she whined and curled over him, "I don't actually know what to do."

Taking this as a serious concern, Inuyasha slid his hands down her sides to rest under her rump.

"I think I do," he muttered, more to himself. Kagome exhaled sharply when he slowly lifted her up and she squeaked when he lowered her back down. She stared down to him to find that he was no longer meeting her gaze, but instead tipping his head to look between their bodies. Kagome pinched her eyes shut when he repeated the action.

"Okay, Okay! I know what to do, just let me—" she shifted her legs a bit, "get into a more comfortable position or something."

He blinked, vocalizing a resounding "huh?" when he met her eyes, as if he hadn't heard a word. Her face couldn't be redder as she adjusted her legs and hesitantly laid her hands on the center of his chest. She copied the motions Inuyasha had tried, slowly, trying to figure it out for herself. Slowly she figured out the if she leaned and moved _just right_—and Inuyasha seemed to enjoy that too, his breath hitching just before hers would catch as well.

Inuyasha's hands rubbed down her legs to grip her knees. He raised himself up often, biting his cheek and watching her through squinted eyes. Every time, it threw her equilibrium off, leaning most of her weight onto her hands, but it also made her gasp.

"You can't keep going that slow," he said at one point, with his voice raspy from breathing heavily for so long. Kagome wasn't entirely sure she either heard him over the pulse in her ears or read his lips through squinted eyes, but she knew what he'd said. She tried shifting herself into a better position, but she didn't get enough time as Inuyasha lifted one hand to the back of her neck and pulled her against his chest. He wrapped the other around her back and rolled them over.

"Next time, for sure," The hanyou man promised when she opened her mouth to protest. A mouth that was soon engaged in a fierce kiss with Inuyasha's. He pulled away from the breathless woman and untucked his arms from under her.

"At least…" she panted, reaching up to grip his neck and shoulder, "give me a chance."

He cleared his throat and nodded with an affirmative, "I will."

Kagome bit her lip with a loud whine when Inuyasha found it easy to start up again. She started to tip her hips up as she had the last time, digging her heels in. Inuyasha found great pleasure in how she tilted her head back when she arched against him. When she tilted her head down again her eyes stayed open. She had no idea how much he enjoyed having her eyes on him in their current engagement. He'd tell himself it wasn't just this, and he'd hope after what she'd done for him that he wouldn't act skittish without his clothes.

He splayed his clawless hand over her belly, pressing into it. She _did_ like that, but he had a feeling she might like something else, as well. He pressed his fingertips down just above where they were connected, rubbing circles and trying to find the right spot. He paused when he had trouble, feeling like an idiot. A small hand ghosted over his to assist just as he figured out what he was doing and flew up to her chest, balling into a fist as Kagome's eyes squeezed shut.

It was awkward, leaning all his weight onto one arm, but not difficult, and definitely not annoying as a barely audible 'oh my god' changed into a louder moan on the last syllable. What was annoying was when the little Miko slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the following sounds. He lifted his body more upright and grabbed ahold of her wrist, pushing it down above her head and leaning back over her. When he caught her surprised gaze, he whispered to her.

"Oi, don't cover your mouth." He released her arm and rested his hand back beside her ribs. Her surprise had dulled some of the pleasure, so she put more effort into her own motions, gripping her husband's arm. She raised herself onto her toes and heard Inuyasha growl. She jerked and gasped when she felt herself getting closer to her peak again. Inuyasha's ears flicked when he heard the quiet start to the string of 'oh my god's and broken bits of his name.

He changed nothing about what he was doing, trying to get her off before him. Third time's the charm, it would seem, as it counts for outlasting his wife. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, digging her nails into Inuyasha's arm and twisting her fingers in his hair. Inuyasha realized that her entire body that was tensing up, not just the grip of her hands. She was so ti—and he would never think of himself as a masochist, but he loved the way her blunt human nails dug into his skin hard enough to hurt.

"Inuya—" she was cut off by her own orgasm, the last syllable ending in a sharp squeak, and a silent scream as she twisted her head to the side.

"Damn," Inuyasha breathed. The most intense of sensations almost surprised him a second later his own body tensed and his pace faltered with a growl until he went completely still. All the strength—demonic or no—seemed to drain from his left arm. He quickly pulled his right hand from between he and his wife to slap it down before he had the chance to fall on her. His arms quivered, and his breath was ragged, but hearing the same roughness to Kagome's breath brought a smile to his face. He opened his eyes to peer down at her when her hand slid limply away from his hair. He chuckled, seeing how even with half opened eyes it took her a second to notice his gaze. She returned his chuckle.

Satisfied with the pleasant acknowledgements, and with his arms quivering dangerously, he tipped his body to one side coming to rest on his stomach beside her. He rubbed his thumb over her arm.

"You got goosebumps again."

"I did," she agreed with amusement. They lay there for about a minute more, catching their breath. Kagome then pulled into a long stretch, waking the muscles that had gone limp. She wiped the moisture from an eye—difficult with Inuyasha's arm still thrown over her. Somehow, she didn't feel as tired as she thought she might. A very odd concern found the core of her thoughts suddenly.

* * *

I'll write what I want...and then proceed to bury my head in the sand...

In all seriousness, I never expected this to get so many reviews, and have so many people see it, and I was scared of continuing on my set plan for this story because it might be a little disturbing to some readers with more writing competence than I have. I'm over it, I'm just going to write like nobody's watching. (As opposed to dancing, which I do anyways).

Oh, I did a little research and Inuyasha wears some weird clothes, but it closely resembles a very specific type of suikan, but the sleeves are still rectangular instead of bell-shaped so idk.

Also, I wanted Inuyasha to have a scar somewhere, and I do remember that the wound Sesshomaru gave him took quite a while to heal because he used so much poison. Inuyasha was coughing up blood days afterwards in the manga, trying to purge to poison from his system. Flawless skin is nice, but kind of boring if you ask me, Inuyasha probably has moles and freckles somewhere on him like any other guy, which are really cute, I personally love seeing random lonesome freckles on people's backs and arms.


	10. Things You Didn't Want to Know

**Things You Didn't Want to Know**

"Wait, did we eat dinner?"

Inuyasha groaned. He pulled his arm off from around her.

"You eat, I'm…staying here.

"Inuyasha," she started, sitting up, "you sure?"

Inuyasha replied with a grunt, turning his face into his arm. Kagome smiled and shook her head. She rolled her shoulders and started to fix her hair, but as she lifted her hand, she noticed long strands of silvery-white hair twisted about her fingers. Inuyasha cracked an eye open at the sound of her giggle. She smiled at him, trying to subdue her giggles. He returned the smile lazily and closed his eyes again.

Kagome dressed hastily in just her white kosode, picking up some wood and trying to start the fire. She chose a carrot to munch on for now, since she wasn't keen on preparing an actual meal. When she got the fire going, she took a damp rag to her neck to wipe away any sweat, and of course to her legs. She would still want to clean more thoroughly at the river come morning, but not just because of this. She wanted to wash her hair out, since it had been a few days since she had properly rinsed her hair. She wiped her chest too—her husband had tried to clean the mess, but she still felt a little sticky.

She downed a cup of water and sat beside her hanyou husband, turning to ask if he would, after all, want something to eat or drink…but…he was lying prone—breathing softly—sound asleep. That was…he never slept on his belly. His preferred position was curled on his side, though sometimes he slept on his back when he wasn't sitting against a wall on full alert. The only time he was on his belly was when an enemy knocked him out.

One ear swiveled at the light 'tap' when she set her cup down. It didn't surprise Kagome that her husband's ears were apparently still vigilant to any disturbances. Most voices he slept through, but sounds? For the noise not to disrupt the even pace of his breathing in the slightest, she also knew he must _really_ be tired. Truth be told, she was sleepy too, but it didn't make much sense for her to set out the bedding before the sun went down. Come morning, it wouldn't be pleasant on her back if she slept on the floor, as her husband was doing. Even if she did sleep a little longer with her husband doing a good job of wearing her out and all.

With that thought, a pesky yawn drew itself out of her mouth. She wiped away the bit of moisture that collected in the corner of her eye and looked back down to the snoozing man. It was rare that Kagome got to see him sleeping. Rare and pleasant for the young Miko. He required less sleep than a human did—she knew. He could function on no sleep for days (though she wasn't sure how well) but when he did finally get the restful sleep he deserved—not propped against a wall—he looked so sweet and peaceful. Like most men, his eyelashes were dark and unfairly thicker than a woman's, looking angelic against his cheek. His eyebrows and eyelashes weren't really black—she had realized this at some point, though now that she thought about it, it must have been the first time she watched him sleep, having overtaken her bed. They were dark grey, or silver, rather. That somewhat explained the darker silver trail down his belly.

His silvery-white hair lay strewn out and tangled to one side of him, leaving his back open to her gaze. The young woman's eyes traveled downwards, examining the one lasting scar that mirrored the one on his front. It was a little off to the side, but she still didn't understand how Sesshomaru failed to sever Inuyasha's spinal column. Or perhaps he had, but the boy's demonic healing had somehow repaired the damage? Kagome shook her head. It was impossible to imagine the limits of her husband's body.

Aside from that particular scar, the skin of his back was smooth and pale, stretched taut over hard muscles. Her gaze drifted lower, him having failed to cover up before falling asleep. Lean and muscular like the rest of him, his backside was just about perfect, but Kagome couldn't help but think it would be all the more exquisite in her palms.

She startled at her own thoughts. She felt her cheeks blaze as she tore her eyes away, that having been about the most perverted thought she had…in a while anyway. She held her burning cheeks in her hands, remembering her poor husband was completely innocent in her ogling. But again…he _was_ her husband, so he was _hers_ to ogle.

Realizing something then, she more casually glanced down to his bare legs. It was odd, but she recalled that throughout their travels, he had never once exposed his legs, not even on the rare occasion they were injured. The time a demon had wrapped his legs in barbs that pierced his clothing, he had limped around on a bad ankle for hours, insisting he was fine and refusing treatment. She had only convinced him to stop in their constant marching when blood soaked through his hakama, and just by claiming she wanted to make camp. It was as if he was embarrassed. It was entirely possible, she supposed, despite his gruff façade he had seemed a bit prudish. For boys, taking off their tops layers must not be a big deal, but the bottoms seemed a completely different can of worms.

She had seen him naked on the one occasion as a girl, but she had been much too concerned with throwing everything in reach at him and trying _not_ to look at him. Despite her efforts then, she had gotten quite the eyeful, and it certainly hadn't been his _legs_ that had etched their image into her fifteen-year-old mind.

Finished admiring her husband, the young Miko took her sad excuse for dinner out to the front of the house, leaning against the outer wall to watch the stars appear in the dimming light. She stared until the last remnants of the twilight blackened into night. The dark opened her view to countless far-away suns, unconcealed by clouds and only interrupted in brightness by the dim light of the waxing moon.

She returned to the house and kneeled beside Inuyasha. She sat for a long while, reflecting on the past two months since she had made her final journey through the well. She had never spent so much time, uninterrupted, in this era and the transition was easier than she had expected, at first. Small things were different from her travels, the kitchen setup, no toothbrush or razors, no instant foods to cook in boiling water, but it wasn't all that hard to get used to.

The last item on the list drew her attention back to the man sleeping beside her. If she thought about it, she could probably make something similar to ramen. It would have to be rabbit or pheasant flavored instead of the beef or pork, but it was something Inuyasha would likely enjoy. She wanted to try it soon, just to see the look on his face.

Although, seeing him now, he looked plenty content with just lying on the floor. Ordinarily, she knew he would never allow himself to appear as vulnerable as he did now. He likely resisted sleeping on his belly so to not expose his back in a world of countless threats. However, here, he was alone with his wife and allowed himself that vulnerability. Kagome was touched that he felt so comfortable with her. He was so conked out that he hardly moved besides an involuntary shiver as she traced the edge of his scapula with one finger. He rarely slept this deeply.

Somewhere inside Kagome was a gentle laughter, knowing _she _had been the cause of this—or more specifically, their actions prior to his nap. _She_ had worn out her husband. Her _hanyou_ husband. The knowledge of this tempted her—just a bit—to take advantage of his open, defenseless back. She leaned forward to kiss the center, just above the scar. Suddenly bold, she drew her tongue over his skin, tasting a bit of the salt. A strange whine issued from the dozing man, sounding almost like something from an old dog. She thought it was cute, though she would never say it...partly because Inuyasha got so upset when he was compared to a dog.

Continuing her torment, the young Miko reached up for an ear. The fuzzy little thing flicked away from her touch, pinning itself out of the way and against Inuyasha's head. She grasped it softly, massaging it until it relaxed and stood upright again. A sigh and facial twitches let Kagome know that Inuyasha was on his way back to consciousness. She smiled, releasing the ear.

"Kagome," he uttered when she lifted a piece of hair away from his face. Heavy eyelids lifted open to Kagome's smiling face.

"Hey," she greeted.

It took only a second for full alertness to clear his vision as he rose to his elbows.

"How long was I out?"

"An hour, give or take."

He turned away with a sheepish look on his face.

"Damn, I can't believe I actually fell asleep," he admitted. "And here I thought I was part demon," he joked.

"Well, I don't know," she started in a leading tone, "but I'm not sure most guys can have their wife—y'know—and then immediately go for it right after." She swallowed in an attempt to keep the color in her cheeks down. Inuyasha looked straight ahead as he awkwardly sat up, facing away from her. He pulled his discarded kosode over his lap as casually as he could with burning cheeks.

"You ain't tired at all?"

Kagome blinked.

"I am but…" her jaw clicked and she touched her fingers to the joint. Inuyasha turned to look with the clicking sound. Kagome caught his eyes for a second, looking away while explaining,

"My jaw's a little sore, sorry." She looked up to catch a millisecond of Inuyasha's horrified expression before he turned away. He didn't say anything though. Kagome sighed. His ears flicked at the sound and Kagome reached up to grasp onto one. He flinched at first, but Kagome rubbed the delicate appendage gently, muttering, "You're alright," though Inuyasha couldn't be certain what that was in reference to. Inuyasha turned a little back towards her, raising an eyebrow. He let her continue for a second, trying not to react or push her hand away, but then gave up fighting, dipping his head lower for her.

"That feels good."

"You always told me not to touch your ears."

Inuyasha squinted with a benign glare.

"That's 'cause you always yanked on them when you wanted my attention. There are better ways to do that, y'know." He scoffed, "I've seen human mothers discipline their kids by the ears, so I know it hurts you guys too."

Kagome stilled her hand, apologizing for being so heartless. Inuyasha brushed it off now that she knew better. Her hand migrated to his hair, instantly finding a knot. She pulled her hand away, remembering the tangled strands she'd had twisted about her fingers earlier. She had ripped out a good chunk, but it would have been a lot less if his hair weren't so tangled.

"Inuyasha," she started, tilting her head to the side, "when was the last time you combed your hair?"

Inuyasha blinked. He twisted around to face her fully, trying to be nonchalant in holding the fabric over his lap in place. Kagome fought the urge to roll her eyes and mentally repeated the words he said the other day. '_Not like I haven't already seen you naked,'_ and quite a bit of him up close. With his other hand he toyed with an elbow-length bit of white hair.

"With an actual comb? Back when my mother would do it for me…" Inuyasha suddenly felt uncomfortable. He had so casually mentioned his mother. He would never just spew tidbits his life story with anyone else, so why had he just done that? It wasn't as if she asked about his mother.

Kagome squinted in confusion. "But your hair would just be a giant rat's nest!"

Inuyasha shrugged, dragging his fingers through the bit of hair he was holding. Kagome noted that his claws were nearly their original length and sharpness. Kagome rolled a question around in her mind. She wondered if it would be inappropriate to ask—but she reconsidered when he shifted and she remembered what she had done earlier that night. This would be simple in comparison.

"Can I comb your hair?"

She wasn't expecting his surprised expression, nor the following blush.

"Why?"

"_Why_?" She repeated, raising a confused brow. Kagome thought over the last few sentences she spoke. _'Well no wonder, he probably took that the wrong way,' _she figured, encountering the statement about his hair being a rat's nest.

"Oh, I just meant, well…I just want to, I guess."

Inuyasha scoffed. He told her she could do whatever she wanted. Kagome frowned when he tilted his head away from her, though she couldn't keep the image of putting his hair in pink bows and braids from entering her mind. She would never do that, but he had said she could do 'whatever' she wanted to. Even if those were the consequences? Nah, he'd budge at some point, with "I didn't mean it literally!"

Rolling her eyes, she wondered if it was even worth it. She stood to walk to the box she kept her hair essentials in and thought that there wasn't much of a point. As often as he just plowed his way through the forest, it would be tangled again in two second's time. Not to mention the fact that he was still staring in the opposite direction of her—probably scowling, she thought.

However, Inuyasha was only facing away from her to hide the tint in his cheeks. He really felt like a fool, embarrassed from just having his wife ask about his hair—and from revealing more than he'd planned to. Kagome didn't seem fazed by his casual mention, immediately going into another topic, but the thought still twirled about his mind as Kagome came to sit beside him. With a movement that surprised him, she reached around his neck and brushed her fingertips against his shoulders. He knew she was only collecting his hair, but he couldn't help the shiver that ran up his spine. He shifted to a more upright position, hoping that would muddle the involuntary shiver in her mind, and would seem as though it were nothing.

Kagome knew what his hair felt like, heavy and thick—she had spent a lot of time getting whipped in the face by it—also coarse and dry, like a horse's tail. While it looked pretty when it caught the light, the texture wasn't the most pleasant. While she separated a piece, she wondered if a few conditioning treatments in her time might get it to a softer state. She couldn't see well by the firelight, but she knew it must have split ends from root to tip. If he cut it every so often, that might've helped. She drug her fingers through the bit she had and saw that it actually wasn't nearly as tangled as she expected...for a guy who hadn't combed his hair in at least _**fifty years**._ She started at the last few centimeters, finding no resistance as the blue plastic comb slipped right through the strands. She went up higher and found no trace of tangles again. She jumped ahead to start halfway up, this time encountering a knot and accidentally jerking Inuyasha's head with a soft grunt. She apologized and took her time with the next stroke, gripping the hair above the knot when she found one.

She was sure he had somehow miraculously gone through life with nearly tangle-free hair as she combed through each section. Until she got to the underside of the thick mass of hair. The part just behind his neck was so tightly and thickly knotted there was no way he wasn't bothered by it. Not unless he was completely oblivious to the fact he owned a full head of hair. She released that chunk of to use his back to brush against and he immediately jumped when he felt the comb scratching his skin.

"What are you doing?" He asked, wrenching his head around to look at Kagome.

"Hold still," she commanded, continuing to comb the bottom of the rope of hair. He reached his hand back around to prevent further movement on his back.

"Hey," he barked out a warning.

Kagome raised a brow, glancing away and down at where the back of his hand was pressed. Right along the edge of his scar.

"I'm sorry!" She thought scars had no nerve endings, but from his reaction, "I didn't know the scar hurts. I didn't even see where I was."

It was Inuyasha's turn to raise a brow.

"Hurt? You weren't even on the scar," he admitted. He lowered his hand away from his back, and looked away from his wife. Kagome puzzled over his expression for a second. She cocked her head to the side and reached out to touch his back, a little lower than the scar, down to where she had actually been pressing the comb to at the small of his back. Inuyasha shrugged away from her hand. A smile planted itself on Kagome's face.

"I forgot. You actually like your back being touched, don't you?"

She heard a breathy chuckle. He turned his head to look at her from the corner of his eye. He raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Not any more than you do," he said.

Kagome chuckled and removed her hand. "It tickles, doesn't it?"

Inuyasha smirked, "I wouldn't really say that. I've never been ticklish."

Kagome rolled her eyes and tapped his shoulder, telling him to turn around and let her finish.

* * *

"Inuyasha, you don't have to stand guard the entire time."

Inuyasha huffed from his position beside the bank of the pool of water. It was the very same pool in the river where Inuyasha had seen her naked the first time. Which meant it was very close to the village. If some random village man should take this route in getting home, Inuyasha would have to be on alert in to block the man's path and recommend he take a different road. He would much rather pluck out a man's eyes than let one besides himself see the young Miko bathing, now that she and he were wed.

His ears pricked in the direction of her slight splashing. He looked over to see her blurred form kicking over to the deeper part of the pool. She broke the surface on the other side; gulping in air and leaning back to float. That time more than four years ago, he hadn't even cared about a naked girl splashing under his vision; he merely wanted the jewel shard he thought she carried. He cared nothing for her nudity and had hardly noticed it at the time. He didn't care to look at any girl at that time, though the image of one naked should have at least turned his head in the opposite direction—again, he had a one track mind, set on locating the jewel shard.

Now was a whole other story, as he watched Kagome scrub her scalp with her nails. He was transfixed on how her body _moved_ as she scrubbed in the waist-deep water. She opened her eyes and he straightaway turned his head before she could catch him. He pretended to stare off looking for danger or peeping eyes.

'_Ah, he's not even looking?'_ Kagome thought forlornly, _'...I suppose he really does just want to make sure I'm safe while we're here.´_ Kagome sighed. He could probably detect an incoming human from the start of the road, so there was no need for him to keep his guard up quite this much. Kagome swam to the other end of the pool, where her husband was standing.

"Inuyasha," she called.

His gaze finally fell back to her at the sound of his name.

"You're not going to join me at all?"

Inuyasha scoffed.

Kagome bit her lip.

"It just feels really weird being totally naked like this, when you're dressed, just watching over me."

"Then finish up and we'll head home." Inuyasha didn't even blink as he spoke. He really didn't like her staying out like this—so close to the main village—for any longer than she needed. She mentioned coming to the river in the morning, but she had woken up cranky and dilly-dallied all morning, missing out on her restricted bath time. He would have liked her to do it in the morning, so she would just get in, get bathed and get back out with the limited time she had.

"The water's really nice."

"It's cold."

"It's July, it's not that cold."

"Is that so," he said, purposefully directing his gaze below her shoulders. Kagome crossed her arms over her chest with his inspection.

"Grouch," she mumbled as she turned away from him. She took a deep breath and continued, "Come on, Inuyasha. You can't be worried about anyone coming here. If anyone did, you'd hear them a few minutes before they passed, wouldn't you?"

She made a good point but he'd need a little more convincing. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"Come on, please?"

'_Why?'_ Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He scanned the lining trees, growled in annoyance and began to disrobe. Kagome smiled as he pulled his top layers away and started on his hakama. He looked at her as he pulled on the ties and flushed, looking away but continuing to undress. He finished and slowly slipped into the _cold_ water a meter or so away from Kagome.

"There, happy?"

Kagome flashed a smile. Inuyasha waded to a shallower position and sat in the water, hunching over so only his head above the nose came over the water. For some reason then, Kagome waded over to where her clothes were laid out. She reached over the bank and into her clothes. She pulled out the blue comb she had used on Inuyasha last night. Inuyasha spotted it as she turned back to him, he sat up straighter.

"You with the comb again!" he said with a scoff.

"I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything last night," she declared.

Inuyasha wiped his hand down his face.

"You're serious?"

"Of course I am."

Inuyasha growled again. Might as well get it over with. Hopefully she wouldn't end up pulling his hair as she had last night. He pushed his wet hair off his shoulders and down his back, and Kagome came to kneel beside him. She started at the roots this time, finding it curious how she made it to the ends without finding a single snag in even wet hair. Maybe part of being a half-demon was tangle-resistant hair. She couldn't imagine Sesshomaru going through the trouble of combing his hair in the mornings, and he had really nice hair. She started at the roots and combed to the tips several more times, until at one time, she got a good look at his scalp.

In the house the previous night, the light had been so dim so she didn't see anything, but now…was that dandruff? Demons get dandruff? She cringed at the sight of his scalp. He had a bad patch of whatever it was on his scalp. Why hadn't she ever noticed before? Oh, maybe because his hair was about the same color? She swallowed and scratched gently at it with the comb, making it seem like she was still just combing his hair, albeit a little rougher. She scraped some of the flakes away.

She looked at her husband's hair with a grimace, but noticed that where she had scraped the flakes was now nice clean scalp. '_Ew,'_ she thought, '_this definitely comes from not washing his hair enough.'_ That would change. Oh, that would change. She would make sure every time she bathed, he would come with her. She brought the comb back down, fighting the urge to squeal and scraped off another chunk.

"What are you doing?" He asked, looking up at her.

"I'm almost done," she squeaked. Inuyasha raised a brow, but Kagome told him to let her finish what she was doing. He was about to protest until she sent him a glare, to which he scoffed and returned to tipping his head down. She continued with her task until all she could see was nice clean scalp under all that white hair and sat properly in the water beside him. She really hoped she wouldn't have to do that again, and she was suddenly reassured when she saw Inuyasha tipping his head back to scrub at his hair with his fingers and claws. So, it would seem, so long as he took baths he knew to clean his hair, but the frequency of his baths were the problem.

A few minutes were spent in silence, with Inuyasha scrubbing his hair and body when His ears twitched at a noise.

"See, I knew this would happen the second I got in. I've got to chase this guy off, be right back."

Kagome shrugged. "Nah, I'll get out, it's been long enough," she commented as Inuyasha sprung out onto the bank to dress. She followed him onto the ground, squeezing out her hair. She barely reached her clothes by the time the hanyou man was clad in red once again. He sure did dress fast. Maybe the water temperature really had given him a chill?

* * *

Yes, I will bury smut under layers of casual interactions and fluff.

You discover a lot of gross things about your spouse when you really start getting to know each other. Things you didn't want to know, and bad habits that they have. (_That they often come close to kneeing you in the groin while flopping around in their sleep_). People did bathe occasionally way back when, but I imagine wouldn't bother but once in a blue moon. For Inuyasha, it's probably dangerous to get naked growing up where everything wants to eat you-and he probably carried that through to adulthood.


	11. A Change in the Weather

**A Change in the Weather**

Inuyasha woke just as the sun crested the horizon, bringing with it the sounds of the forest. He pulled the covers back, careful not to wake his wife. Rin would retrieve the young Miko if she slept in too late. He stepped around her to head out the door when he remembered he hadn't even told her he would be going out that morning.

* * *

Something was touching her arm… nah, it was warm, she shouldn't worry.

"Kagome…Kagome."

Her eyes came open at the sound of her name. She blinked at the foggy image of her husband's face.

"Inu…sha?" She croaked.

"Good. Hey, so today," he began, although he didn't exactly have her full attention quite yet. She squinted, her fuzzy brain trying to make sense of what he was saying. He patted her arm with the last of his words.

"Go back to sleep, hm?"

Kagome wasn't about to object to his suggestion. She closed her eyes and pushed her face back into the pillow as Inuyasha stood.

She opened her eyes again. He probably meant for her to listen to at least some of that. She couldn't remember a word of it. She raised herself onto her elbows and looked over to ask him to repeat what he'd said, but he was long gone. She groaned, rubbing her eyes and pushing herself into a sitting position.

What time was it anyway? How long had the sun been up? She wished she had a clock with her, rather than constantly relying on Inuyasha's internal wiring to get her up in the morning. She'd had one in her backpack, but the batteries had died at some point over the course of three years. Where was he anyway? Usually he got up with her in the mornings.

Kagome rolled her eyes. That was a stupid question. He was with Miroku. How often did they get jobs anyway? It had been barely two weeks since they returned from their last job. Before that, they had gone on two others, only traveling a short distance away, having more of a shooing mission than a slaying mission.

Kagome patted her cheek. It was too early for her brain to work properly. However, since she didn't know what time it actually was, she fixed herself a quick breakfast, dressed, and hurried down to Kaede's.

She arrived just as the older Miko and the young girl were sitting down to their own breakfast. The old Miko didn't hesitate to put the younger woman to work sweeping the steps leading up to the weathered shrine. When Kagome returned inside, Kaede sent her back out to the garden this time, pulling weeds. The younger woman frowned deeply as she turned her back to the woman. The next thing she had Kagome do was watering the garden, then going out to the wood pile with an axe and a list of other random chores. Weren't these usually the sort of tasks she had Rin do? She saw Rin dart out past her mid swing with the axe, just about giving Kagome a heart attack. She looked on as Rin ran right up to a few other children who looked as if they had been expecting her.

Kagome blinked, wondering just what the girl was up to.

'_Ah…I really am doing Rin's chores in addition to my own!'_

Kagome put a hand on her hip and shook her head at the shrinking forms of the children playing tag. What does all this have to do with Miko training? She stood, staring out over the field, where the children were no longer visible.

"Kagome," came a gentle voice from behind her. It was just loud enough to make Kagome jump right back into work, realizing that it was nearly mid-morning and Kaede probably expected her to finish up before long.

"Come in. I have something to discuss with you." Kagome turned back to the old woman, who was offering her a damp rag in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. Kagome nodded, and took the rag to wipe her hands, then the tea before following the grey-haired Miko back into her small hut. Kaede sat at one side of the burnt-out firepit, and Kagome took to the other side. Kaede took a slow sip of her tea before she began.

"You may have noticed, but you've been doing some of Rin's chores this morning."

Kagome blinked in slight confusion, but nodded for the old woman to continue.

"Well, she has today to play with the other children as she likes, which is why I've assigned her chores to you, so that she has more time to do so. In a few days, she will not be allowed to."

"What?" Kagome squinted in deep confusion.

"Tell me, in your homeland, what sort of bridal training or preperations did girls undertake?"

"Bridal—? What? You…you mean Rin?" With Kaede's nod she continued in her stuttering questions. "She's so young. I-isn't it a bit early for her to start thinking about marriage?"

"Rin is small for her age, but before long, the young men will begin to notice her. She would not be ready to marriage for a few years, but Lord Sesshomaru did not oppose it."

What.

She barely got Sesshomaru, her brother-in-law, to scowl at her during his last visit. And he and Kaede just chatted over tea? Then again…he had entrusted Rin to her.

Oh yeah, before that.

"_He_ agreed to it?"

Kaede nodded. Kagome blinked. In all honestly, she didn't know completely what sort of character Sesshomaru was, but for him to agree to a match between Rin and some random village boy? Wait… wasn't that even stranger? Did regular women need training to become housewives? She had so many questions.

She almost expected Sesshomaru to continue seeing Rin as the little girl he first met, and oppose the notion of her growing up. Or maybe it was just Kagome herself that kept the image of this duo of the helpless little girl and her older brother/father figure ingrained in her mind. But he now agreed that she was ready to grow up and marry? Or maybe she was just jarred by how young Rin still was. By marrying at eighteen as Kagome had, it would be probably be considered quite scandalous to her friends in her era of birth, when women didn't typically marry until their twenties. But girls started out so early in this time…

"Now, how did girls prepare for marriage in your world?"

Once again, Kagome snapped back to the present, her brain scrambling to find an answer for the grey-haired woman.

"Uh, well… maybe home-ec could be considered…why does there need to be training? All most wives need to learn is how to cook and clean right?"

Kaede sighed. "From what I have heard, there is more than that."

"Then…no, there's nothing quite like that where I'm from."

Kaede nodded. "That is what I feared."

Kaede sent Kagome back to work, which she took to slowly, her mind occupied with how strange this all sounded. How strange was it? Children grow up. Rain falls. Seasons change. Crazy, stoic brother-in-laws learn to talk to people without being complete assholes. These were facts of life.

After she finished her chores she found Kaede and a woman speaking at the river. Kaede sent Kagome with the woman to diagnose a rash on her son's calf. The older Miko told Kagome to head home when she was done. Kagome wasn't about to argue about being let go early, leaving the mother with care instructions before she left. Absentmindedly, she started down the path to her house, lost in thought and moving on muscle memory. She passed the first tree into the forest when she stopped. She realized the direction she was heading remembered how empty it would be when she returned, so she decided to check in on Sango and the kids. Better yet, she could talk about Rin. Sango grew up in this time, so Kagome wondered if she knew anything about whether or not this situation Rin was in was strange or not.

As she came closer to her friend's residence, she was surprised to see that the parent watching over the toddlers with a baby balanced on their knee, was in fact, not Sango, but her husband. All thoughts of Rin disappeared in that instant. Kagome was glad to know the boys were back, but she was a little disappointed that her own husband had not greeted her upon arrival. He hadn't done so the last time, either. Miroku greeted Kagome with a wave. She returned it half-heartedly, with a question evident in her posture.

"Where's Inuyasha?" she asked when she came within earshot. Miroku raised an eyebrow. Both girls lifted their heads to greet the young Miko by name and waved by opening and closing their little hands.

"He's…still training with Sango…" the monk replied with a questioning tone. Kagome tilted her head with the most puzzled expression.

"Training?"

"Yes?" Miroku commented, briefly glancing towards Kagome.

"I just brought the kids back a few minutes ago." He looked down at the drowsy infant he held. "It's about nap time for these three."

He looked back to the still confused face of his friend.

"Had Inuyasha not said anything? Surely last night or this mor—"

He was interrupted when Kagome slapped a hand against her forehead.

"So _that's_ what he was trying to tell me this morning! I thought the two of you were leaving on a job."

"You must have been half-asleep," the monk chuckled, "or too distracted to remem—"

"The first one," Kagome interrupted with a benign glare.

Miroku shook his head and turned his attention back to his two daughters. Kagome saw Miroku stiffen, directing her attention to the place where the very absent toddlers had just been.

"Girls?" he called once. Two brunette heads popped up over a patch of tall grass. Miroku told them to stay where he could see them. The young father raised an eyebrow when the girls exchanged whispers in each other's' ears.

"And what are you up to?" he asked with a note of whimsy when they began to giggle. "You look like you're up to no good."

Kagome chuckled at the giant grin on the girl's faces, then looked down to Miroku and the oddly quiet baby.

"Would you like me to put Ichiro down?"

"Oh, yes, thankyou Kagome," he said, passing his son off to the younger woman. She smiled at the baby as she passed his father on her way inside the house. Miroku began to say something, but lost his train of thought when he looked back to his daughters.

"What are you eating? _**What**_ are you _**eating**_?!" He left Kagome to run after the girls.

Kagome peaked her head out to see Miroku crouched in front of one of the twins.

"Why? Why would you put that up your nose, sweetheart?"

Kagome grimaced and ducked back inside to put the baby down for a nap.

* * *

"HIRAIKOUTSU!"

Inuyasha made no move to dodge the weapon. He sprung up further into its path, catching it and used the forward energy to curl into a backflip and land softly on the balls of his feet. It was more as if he had caught a harmless beach ball than a dangerous demon-slaying weapon weighing nearly as much as the caster herself.

"That was lame! You saw how easy that was to catch? You're throwin' way too damn slow, Sango," he jibed. Sango smiled and leapt forward. She drew her sword and came down in a streak of silver. He spun with just enough time to draw his own sword, throwing Hiraikoutsu off to the side. The young woman swung for the hanyou's middle, and Inuyasha twisted to parry the strike with the untransformed Tessaiga. He parried another vertical strike and took a step back to hold the sword out properly. Sango continued to strike and Inuyasha parried each attack.

"Your swordmanship still sucks," the slayer commented as she continued to force Inuyasha back. They had a deal when it came to the sword. Inuyasha could only go on the offensive during the new moon, but even for staying on the defensive, he wasn't doing well against the woman. He had never learned to properly wield the untransformed Tessaiga—never even thought about it, since his attacks with the larger version were based on overkill. It was on one new moon two and a half years ago that Sango had taken it upon herself to teach him. Inuyasha was lucky that bandit's swordsmanship wasn't much better than his own. Or rather, he was lucky Kohaku had come to save his sorry—and severely bloodied—ass.

"Oh shut yer yap. I'm workin' on it."

"Are you?" Sango laughed, coming in for a diagonal slice, "and who's been your sparring partner while I was pregnant?"

Inuyasha scoffed. Sango glanced down for an instant before smirking once again.

"Inuyasha, there's one thing you particularly need to work on."

Inuyasha chuckled and raised an eyebrow to ask what that was.

"Obviously, Inuyasha, it's your—" she stuck out her foot to sweep under her friend's heel, "**footwork**!"

"Augh!" Inuyasha cried as he stumbled, though not knocked completely over. Just off-balance enough for Sango to get the upper hand. Inuyasha swung up swiftly, barely blocking the slayer's strike. He pushed his blade upward with a little too much force, tossing the slayer's arms up. Sango kicked up and twisted over Inuyasha's head, coming to land behind him.

Inuyasha froze, expecting to feel the cold slap of the blunt edge of a sword against his cheek. After half a second he turned to face the human woman. She was trembling, still crouched from the landing. She had come down too hard for her ankles. He saw her begin to tip and dipped forward to catch her by the upper arms.

"Uh, Sango, how about you take a break?" Inuyasha suggested as he helped his friend back into the upright position.

"We just took a break!" she snapped back with a glare. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He took a deep breath and released Sango's arms. He crossed his arms and stood to his full height, staring up at the clouds.

"We're gonna need to wrap this up soon anyway. Rain's movin' in," he said with a tap to his nose.

"Oh, right," Sango said with a roll of her eyes.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. It had started to get muggy out a few hours ago, even she had to realize a storm was moving in. He turned his head to the side, where a lone spectator had been watching for a few minutes.

"Well, Miroku? Wanna try convincing your wife?"

Miroku slipped into view then, shrugging.

"His nose hasn't been wrong yet, Sango. If he says it's going to rain, I believe him."

Sango huffed at that, sheathing her sword. She went to collect her other things but spun around to face her husband.

"Where are the kids?"

"Oh, Kagome is watching them," Miroku replied with a hand on his hip.

"You tricked her into watching them for you? Miroku—"

"Oh no, no," The monk waved his hand in front of him, "she offered to watch them. I think she quite likes the children, after all."

Sango shot a suspicious look his way. Inuyasha backed out of the line of fire to sheath Tessaiga.

"Are you certain you didn't coerce her? I really don't want to take advantage of her like that."

"I assure you, she was more than happy to babysit."

* * *

How did she get roped into this?

She didn't know how he'd done it, but her friend, the monk with the silver tongue, had somehow convinced the younger woman to babysit his kids. She tried to remember how he'd done it, how he'd talked her into this, but it was all lost on her. She didn't _mind_ babysitting, she supposed, but she hadn't planned on doing it right now. She wasn't good at it, especially around naptime, as she had learned from the few times her mother and grandfather left her to watch Sota. The monk had somehow convinced her that she just needed more experience watching children, before heading out before she could disagree.

Ichiro was easy enough to get to sleep, but the girls absolutely refused to stay put anywhere. She had become worried their whining would wake the baby so she finally caved and let them return to playing outside. They weren't too bad out there, but they kept wondering behind the house, and Kagome found it difficult to keep track when they split up. Kagome finally convinced them to settle down in a patch of flowers on the side of the house, so she could keep an eye out for them and an ear out for the baby.

Koyuki seemed to have a sudden idea and tugged Yukie up from the patch. They ran up to Kagome and presented fists full of flowers to her.

"Uh, why thank—"

"Make a neckwace," Koyuki interrupted.

"Fwower neckwace," Yukie added.

"A…you want me to make a flower necklace?" Kagome asked hesitantly. She chewed the inside of her lip when they smiled and nodded in unison. She hadn't made one since she was a little girl but…she supposed she could try…though she really couldn't remember anything about how to do it. Was it just braiding the stems?

A sudden tug on her senses gave her a moment of relief. Inuyasha was heading this way, probably alongside the girls' parents. She distracted them by telling them their mommy and daddy were coming home.

"Mama!" Yukie chirped and ran around to the front of the house to wait. Koyuki followed right behind. Kagome came up behind the girls.

"Where?" Koyuki asked after about ten seconds when she was tired of waiting.

"Right there," Kagome said, pointing over the hill when the glint of Miroku's staff came into view. She didn't expect the green-clad twin to sprint in the direction the temporary guardian indicated. Kagome darted to scoop her up.

"Hold your horses," she told the little girl as she looked over to where Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha were now visible. Inuyasha waved before coming to stop at the edge of the garden.

"I hope they didn't give you too much trouble," Sango asked as she picked up Yukie from where she had been clinging to her leg. These two acted like they hadn't seen her in a week.

"Well, I couldn't get the girls to take a nap, but other than that…"

"Oh, well that just means they'll sleep better tonight, I suppose." The young mother then apologized for her husband leaving Kagome alone like that.

"Oh no, I don't mind…Actually, if you ever need someone to babysit, me and Inuyasha would be willing—"

"NO," Inuyasha interrupted, wide-eyed. "I ain't gonna—"

Kagome shot him a glare.

"Yes, we will," she said firmly. "We'll be more than happy to watch the kids for you."

"No, we won't, Kagome. They made me babysit all the time before you came back and then there was only two of th—"

"And now there's two of us." She set koyuki down to join her sister in being ushered in the house by their father.

"And besides, you said you wanted to be a father someday," Kagome said with raised eyebrows. She was unfazed by the glare he sent her, especially since it was offset by pink cheeks and a gulp from the man.

"It'll be good practice for then."

His lips twitched when he glanced at Sango—still standing there—then away from both women. Sango sighed.

"I'll probably take you up on the offer, but I don't want t—"

Thunder crackled overhead, turning Inuyasha's face upward to sniff the air. Sango looked up to the dark grey clouds moving in rapidly.

"Maybe we can talk another time," she said with a nod towards Inuyasha, "you two had better get going before it gets too heavy out."

Inuyasha returned her nod then looked to Kagome before turning in the direction of their house. Kagome shook her head. She waved to Sango before racing up to Inuyasha's side.

"Well that was rude," Kagome said when they were out of earshot of their friends.

'_Rude of you to put me in the middle like that,_' Inuyasha thought. He felt the beginning of sprinkles on his ears and told Kagome they needed to pick it up. After another minute, Kagome gasped.

"What?" He asked when Kagome came to a halt and turned her head back in the direction they just came from.

"I wanted to talk to Sango about something," she sighed.

"About what?"

"Mn…"Kagome bit her lip. She was hesitant to say. "It's really not important…"

Inuyasha quirked a dark eyebrow.

The sound of something caught his attention, and Kagome glanced up when he turned his head, ears trained on something. A second later, the sprinkles stopped and were replaced by much heavier rain. Kagome squeaked and covered her head. The both of them darted towards their house. By the time Inuyasha had it in his head to pick Kagome up, the rain was coming down in buckets.

Inuyasha slowed before flipping back the screen and depositing Kagome back inside the house.

"Ugh…" Kagome groaned, running a hand through her wet hair before wringing it out onto the dirt floor. Her clothes were heavy, sticking to her and so uncomfortable. The one thing she was thankful for was that it was a warm rain in the summer. Inuyasha didn't complain about getting caught in the rain, like Kagome had expected, though he wore a sour face as he pulled his hair over one shoulder. He wrung his hair out as best he could before crouching to his haunches.

"Don't you dare," Kagome scolded before he got the chance. He was _not_ going to shake off inside the house. He would get water everywhere, including the mostly dry shortened kosode she wore.

"Oh yeah, like you just love having your clothes soaked th—what are you doing?"

"Hanging these up to dry, obviously."

Kagome shook her head and stood on tiptoe to toss one side of her hakama up and over the rafter, as she had done with her top layer. She straightened it from the bottom so it would dry fastest. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow as she left her outer garments hanging to walk over to where she kept spare linens. He glanced back at her clothes and slowly stood to follow suit in unfastening his outer layers. He hesitantly looked over Kagome as he slowly hung his robes over the rafter, as she had done.

Kagome sat against the back wall with two cloths that would serve as towels to dry off further. Inuyasha took one towel and sat beside Kagome in silence. She wiped down her hair, realizing she still had it pulled back in a style somewhere between Sango and Kaede's. Meaning with the rain and damp heat it was stuck to the back of her neck. She looked back to Inuyasha, the man with at least twice as much hair. Said hair was clinging in tangles to his own shortened underlayer. She definitely liked it better untangled for the rare moments when he would let her run her fingers through it. They had both learned that Inuyasha very much liked having his scalp massaged—and now with her making sure he took a bath with her on occasion, she was pleased to do it.

There was a few occasions in the past when Kagome had patted his head, and with learning this about himself, he regretted snapping at her. Although…Back then, she was fond of making the occasional dog pun. When she had patted his head the first time, she did so with the added comment of 'good boy' and that pissed him off to no end. He wasn't being irrational. That would be a normal reaction from anyone—human or otherwise—when being treated like some pet. It was worse that he hated being compared to a goddamned dog.

When he went to bed beside his wife two nights ago, she reminisced about some book she read—Hairy Pottery or something—he didn't remember nor care but she had begun to stroke his hair at some point. He didn't recall when that had started, or when he had stopped listening to her tale, but minutes before he realized it, she had stopped talking. He ended up with his forehead against her chest and delicate fingers rubbing the most gentle little circles into his scalp.

He had backed away from her quickly, his expression a strange mix of surprise and annoyance at being handled like that—even if it did feel good. When he had seen Kagome's own surprise and confusion, he realized that this was not the same patronizing patting she had given early on. She was not thinking of him as dog; she was thinking of him as a lover. He flushed in his embarrassment and wordlessly laid his head back against her. In quiet understanding, she resumed stroking his ears and massaging his head. She must have fallen asleep like that, he couldn't be sure because _he had_. But when he woke the next morning he was still laying with his cheek to her chest and with his lovely wife's one hand curled in his hair.

Thunder cracked overhead again, drawing Kagome's attention away for a second.

"Damn, it's hot," Inuyasha muttered as he pulled into a stretch. Kagome looked back to Inuyasha as he set the towel off to the side. She slowly reached forward and drug her fingers through a strand of Inuyasha's hair. Inuyasha leaned away to look at her, noting how thoughtful her expression seemed.

"Can I put your hair up?"

Inuyasha's eyes rolled back in his head. This again.

"Right now? It's wet."

She looked away with a blink, disappointment showing on her pretty face. She slowly withdrew her hand. Inuyasha made an annoyed noise and looked away for a second, hoping that when he looked back she would…nope. Still disappointed. He sighed.

"Tomorrow. If it's still muggy like this. Get it off my neck," he conceded. She flashed a smile and bumped her shoulder against his. He chuckled. She had offered to put his hair up before, and depending on the day, he was close to letting her do it. She reached her hand back up to stroke that strand of hair again. He fought a smile when her hands traveled up further, to his now dry left ear. He had given her permission to touch them as she liked a while ago…and she was very close to abusing that agreement with how often it was he hands traveled up there. From what he knew, his ears were no different from an akita's, so he wondered who she'd abuse more if she had one for a pet. Probably him. Though as her fingertips then wondered down to his scalp…this didn't quite qualify as abuse.

Though when she stopped abruptly, _that_ could be borderline cruelty. He looked to where the screen flap had blown open with the wind as rain scattered across the dirt entryway. He growled and was about to stand when Kagome beat him to it, a hand on her hip.

"Sounds like quite the storm. The rainy season should be over by now, but you'd never know it from the way this storm is carrying on."

Inuyasha nodded, looking up at her, and let his head tip back down. He couldn't help but continue looking to his left though. His eyes were level with her thigh. Her largely bare thigh—the line of which continued down a long path to her slender calf and petite ankle. With his eyes, he traced the line back up to the flare of her hip, the taper of her waist and—she took a step forwards, intent on securing the screen shut, but that step was all she made it. A pair of large hands rested on her hips to still her.

"Inuyasha?"

She turned her head to look at him. He twisted her hips and she stepped around to face him, resting her hands over his. Pretty golden eyes gazed up with an intensity the owner himself could only stand for a second before looking away with a dusting of pink across his cheeks. Kagome smiled and bit her lip, not even moving as a quiet rumble of thunder sounded from a ways off. She was quite forgetful today, as now the issue of the screen door was gone from her mind.

"Weren't you just complaining about the heat?" the pretty young woman said, getting a soft smile from the man before her. He squeezed gently at her hips. She allowed him to lead her to kneel to the side of his legs. She threw one leg over his and he didn't hesitate to drag her forward, forcing her against his hips. She giggled. He stroked down to her thighs as she cupped his face in her hands. He leaned up to kiss her—little more than a peck, but gentle and sweet. He smiled and kissed her like that once more. She giggled again. He knew she loved these softer moments. He discovered his reward when she snaked her hands into his hair and resumed her attentions from earlier.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds until she was kissing his cheek and down his jaw. While he tipped his head back, his hands traversed her back and gripped the fabric at her shoulders. Kagome paused her kisses. Her hands left his hair so he could spread the fabric at her shoulders. She rested her hands at his shoulders while his hands moved to the front to pull apart the folds at her front, leaving her chest exposed besides her bra.

"Inuyasha," she said in barely a whisper. He met her gorgeous brown eyes once again with a smile, and she returned it. He gently stroked her sides, enjoying the smoothness of her pale flesh. She leaned down to kiss him again, right hand going for his hair. His own left hand went to comb through her damp black tresses but he noticed her hair ribbon was in the way of his enjoyment of the length. He leaned further into another kiss and tugged on one end of the ribbon and felt it start to unravel. He pulled the ribbon out and drug his claws gently through her locks as thunder boomed overhead.

"Shit!" He swore, breaking off the kiss abruptly. He gripped the hems of her kosode and roughly crossed them over one another, crudely redressing her.

"H-hey! Inuyasha? What's going—" Kagome demanded, but was cut off.

"We're about to have company…Dammit, I can't smell shit with this rain."

No sooner did he say that than the screen flap moved aside and a tiny demon appeared, holding a large leaf over his head. Kagome dismounted her husband and tucked her clothing folds in faster than he could say 'hurry' and padded over to the little fox, allowing her husband time to cross his legs.

"Wow! It's really raining out there!" The little boy shouted over the roar of the torrent outside the door. He shook off his makeshift umbrella and lifted his gaze up to Kagome. His eyes went wide when he realized that she, and even Inuyasha, were not wearing any outer layers. Kagome didn't catch the expression, but immediately jumped off of his comment.

"Isn't it? Inuyasha and I were only out in it for a few minutes, and our clothes got drenched," she said with nervous laughter in her voice, "so we hung them up to dry." She gestured to the clothes hanging over the rafters. Shippo's face flashed suspicion as he looked at the clothes before Kagome continued.

"So how did your exams go? How long is your break?"

Shippo shook off his suspicion to reply enthusiastically to Kagome's array of questions.

* * *

The hanyou man glared at the little fox kit curled into Kagome's form as they slept. He glared at Kagome, too, since it was her decision to have him sleep on their bedding with them. _Theirs_. And the kit was cradled to _his_ wife's chest. His_ wife_. The runt was nearly eleven years old by now, though he didn't look a bit of it. So what if he was tiny compared to human children? A fox demon wouldn't get very big, and he knew Kagome was only soft on him because his diminutive size gave her motherly instincts the impression that he was a very small child, where sleeping curled against a woman's bosom was acceptable.

But no. He was ten. Almost eleven. Quite old enough to know that this bed was meant for just husband and wife. He was old enough to understand what he had interrupted—Inuyasha could tell by the look on his face—and manipulative enough to pretend that he didn't, so Kagome wouldn't tell him to leave.

'_Stupid punk kid. Stupid, stupid, punk kid_,' Inuyasha grumbled internally as he lay back to back with his wife. He couldn't even hold her like he wanted because he didn't want to reach around Shippo. Ordinarily he and the kid got along well, but for _some_ reason, he was pissed off at the little bastard.

He look one more look at the pair before flopping back into position. Was this how it was going to be with his own child? Would he get jealous if his own kid wanted to sleep next to their mother? That was a cruel little thought. He decided that it would be different when a child was both parts he and Kagome, not some unrelated male child. And that was another thing. As soon as the kit hit puberty, Inuyasha would kick him out no matter what.

* * *

...

* * *

A lot of notes this time.

Once again... it is all of one AM. I am almost done with finals, but I won't touch my computer again until after graduation (I'm graduating with honors because I had a 4.0 last year!) so the next chapter is several weeks out. It actually starts the beginning of a shift in the story, which some might see as minor, but I see as major, since I was never a fan of this aspect in the epilogue chapter (which will have mention in this story, since it is part of what I consider canon). Also, Sango and Inuyasha are my ultimate BROTP, because they both rely on physical attacks and have some really great teamwork moments in the manga.

I've given up trying to use "Ye" when Kaede talks. I have a hard enough time with the speech patterns of Inuyasha and Miroku (whose speech is about as opposite as they come, Inuyasha's is very lazy and informal, while Miroku's speech pattern reeks of a swindler and a sweet-talker)

I also got a few messages about the errors and oversights I made in earlier chapters, which I was glad to see. I fixed a few, like including the 50 years Inuyasha was pinned to the last chapter. I won't be fixing any of my terrible grammar in old chapters for a long time, though I saw so many cringeworthy instances in this chapter I immediately fixed most of them, since I would have to sit down over the course of a few days to catch every mistake, and I just don't have time for that right now.

Don't hold me to it, but I'll try to publish more frequently in the summer months. Good luck with finals, those of you who have them!


	12. The Honeymoon's Over

**The Honeymoon's Over**

Kagome stretched her arms over her head, staring up to appreciate the slow meandering of the clouds. A slight scraping noise drew her attention to where her husband had perched himself on the fence.

"Anything today?" Kagome asked, dropping her hands and returning to pulling weeds.

"Just a bear. They were busy eating the fish downstream, so I let them be. Probably won't bother makin' the trip up to this side," he relayed with a shrug.

"Well that's good," Kagome started, pausing her hands, "Did you check on Kaede and Shippo?"

Inuyasha snorted.

"Yeah, yeah. Old woman walks so slow, they ain't even made it half way to the next village. Don't know why you couldn't've gone instead."

Kagome sighed.

"I know. Kaede's got an old friend there she's been meaning to see, and I would have loved to see Shippo off at the next stop, but…"

"See him off? What d'ya call this morning?"

"Well, yeah, but I only got to see him for a few minutes today…He spends so much time in the mountains, I feel like I never get to see him."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Bah, runt'll be back in a few weeks. And he usually spends winter down here after that."

Kagome shot him an annoyed glare, before returning to her task. Checking over the rows of seedlings for any more weeds, she stood and brushed her hands off. She ducked back inside the house to wash up. Miroku would over soon.

"Inuyasha!"

The hanyou stiffened up at the irritated tone of the call, but begrudgingly dropped from the fence when it was followed up with a frustrated growl. He wasn't one step inside the house when Kagome set a hand to her hip and shot him a glare.

"I thought I asked you to clean the floor."

"Yeah, and I did," Inuyasha huffed.

"Then why's there muddy footprints everywhere?"

"Tch. I dunno, maybe I came in again afterwards."

"And you didn't think to wipe off your feet?" She growled. "Whatever, I'm just gonna get—where's my bucket?" Kagome spun around to find the two buckets _not_ where they were supposed to be kept—where her stand of herb jars used to be.

"Where's my jars?" She whipped her head around the room. "And my chest? My laundry—Inuyasha!" Nothing was in its proper place!

"Why do you keep moving my stuff around?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Maybe if you didn't trip over _everything_ I wouldn't have to move _anything_," he muttered as he turned his head off to the side.

"**Excuse me**?" She gawked.

"Oh, come on," he started, gesturing to one item of furniture in particular, "You've stubbed your toe on that damn thing roundabout twenty times! It don't belong near the door like that with a klutz in the house."

"Klutz?! I am not a klutz, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha forced a laugh.

"Oh, right. So it was your intention to make me catch you every time you fall—which is constantly," he scoffed. "How romanic," he finished sharply.

"Well, you don't have do that _every_ time I stumble, that's ridiculous."

"Like I said, if you didn't—"

* * *

The violet clad monk swatted away the noisy flies buzzing about his face as he walked down the path to his friend's residence. When he had successfully shooed them away, he noticed that the birdcalls and buzzing insects weren't the only noises about the forest. He could vaguely make out voices deeper into the trees. He pushed aside a branch that grew into the path as he started to make out a male and female tone. He understood why they built their house out here, his hanyou friend would was always most comfortable among the trees of the forest—but it was still quite separated from the rest of the families, and not exactly an easy walk with how cluttered with greenery the footpath was.

Unease set in when he began to notice that the volume was much too high for a casual conversation. He was slowly beginning to recognize the tones as…not particularly happy. He stopped, took a breath, and pulled a u-turn as an especially loud, feminine growl came over the sounds of the birds.

He darted off towards his home. He had a new baby and pair of toddlers; he had no energy to get in the middle of his friends' dispute, nor did he have a death wish.

* * *

"I'm just looking out for you!"

The argument had moved its way outside, with both parties walking in random lines about the front of their house.

"Inuyasha, I didn't ask for quite that kind of vigilance! What I would _like_ is a little help around the house. I'm gone most of the day and sometimes I don't—"

"I don't? Fuck, Kagome have you ever had to even—"

"Okay, stop! Yeah, fine, you're right," she voiced in a condescending tone, "but if you could be a little more conscientious about wiping your feet and cleaning up after yourse—"

"Conscientious? Got it. Find some more stuff to bitch at me about," he huffed before she could finish.

Kagome's eyes went wide.

"What? What did you..? You promised you wouldn't call me that."

Inuyasha closed his eyes with a sigh. Why was she so hung up on that again? He hadn't called her any foul names since…he couldn't even remember, but she still thought he might?

"I didn't _call_ you a bitch, I said you were _bitching_ at me." He opened his eyes to an expression on his wife's face he hadn't seen in a long time. With her lips pursed he didn't have time to correct the mistake.

"Osuwari."

The command wasn't as loud as he had expected, but it drug him down just the same, the beads digging into the earth and earning him a faceful of grass. He was quivering now, trying to resist the spell. Oh, he was officially _mad_ now, when he had been merely _annoyed_ before. It was not because it hurt. The command rarely injured him, but Kagome had come into their rekindled relationship with a promise of her own. He had a right to be pissed off.

Kagome came out of a wince as he lifted his head. She'd forgotten just how violent the command was, and when he had started trembling, she was worried it had hurt him. But now, with the glare he sent her, she could tell he was perfectly fine. He was growling at her, to boot. Her worry dissipated, and she was angry again, this time with the look he gave her.

"You—"

That was it. She didn't care how angry he was, and she didn't care how much she may have deserved it, she wouldn't stand for it. She also wouldn't let him finish with "—promised you wouldn't do that," as she stupidly believed he held something else at the tip of his tongue.

"Osuwari!"

He was growling as her stomping footsteps grew farther away, but when the effect of the spell ended, he simply turned his head to the side and laid there for another few seconds. How the hell had that escalated so quickly?

He growled once more as he pushed himself up, glaring in the direction she had left. He wasn't going to follow her. He wasn't going to tell her off. He wasn't going to follow her. He wasn't going to continue this. He wasn't going to follow her. He also wasn't going to apologize for doing wrong when she had been just as wrong. He _so_ was not going to follow her.

He darted through the trees in the direction she had left.

"I'm just going for a run—to clear my head…" he told himself. He wasn't going to follow her.

* * *

The axe slammed down into the wood with the force of one very angry swing, sending one half flying off.

"Oops!" Kagome winced as she tried to pull the deeply embedded axe from the stump.

"Kagome, while we do appreciate it, we have more than enough wood for a some time," Miroku said, picking up the piece that had landed near his doorstep. He set it beside the growing pile of firewood.

Kagome sighed.

"Fine. So we're going to continue with—"

"Actually, Kagome… with anything that requires such concentration…how should I say this…?" Miroku started, scratching his head, "One's mind must be at peace, their emotions balanced… and considering the…disagreement you had with Inuyasha this morning, you likely have leftover—"

"Wait, wait. How did you know Inuyasha and I were fighting?"

Miroku gave a sideways glance to the needlessly large stack of firewood Kagome had cut that morning. Kagome cringed when she realized what the look was in reference too.

"That, and, I overheard a few words of it this morning while I was going over there."

Kagome groaned and hid her face under one hand.

"I assure you, I heard nothing of circumstance," the monk said, waving one hand in defense.

"Kagome?" Sango called out as she exited the house with a basket of laundry.

Sango convinced Kagome to come to the river with her to wash laundry. Kagome sat by the bank in thought, handing cloths to the older woman as she needed them.

_"I'm not that upset about it, really,"_ the Miko told herself. _"It was stupid, after all…I don't…"_ A sudden wave of guilt washed over her, when she remembered that it had been a serious argument after all; at least on her end. She had promised Inuyasha she wouldn't use the spell, right off the bat. It was the day of after wedding, and she had curled her fingers around the beads and whispered an apology for all the times the spell drug him down.

"I won't use the necklace again, I promise" she told him.

He shrugged, indifferently, but Kagome thought he would appreciate the gesture. So why did she break that promise? She couldn't remember half the argument, nor how it started…but…

"He called me a bitch," she vocalized aloud.

* * *

Inuyasha cringed from his perch on the far side of the river, hidden within the branches of a tall maple. He kept his distance, so as not to alert Kagome. He grit his teeth and sat back with a 'thud' against the trunk.

No, he hadn't. Sure, he didn't choose the best wording for her nagging about whatever—nagging! Why didn't he say she had been nagging?—but he hadn't directed an insulting _name_ towards her. She didn't have to 'osuwari' his ass…his incredibly stupid ass. She hadn't done that—not once—since she had returned to this world. She had even said she wouldn't.

Inuyasha huffed. But then, how had he reacted when she promised him this? He shrugged, that's what. Because then it wasn't a big deal. Before they were separated, she didn't do it all the time and, hell, he probably deserved most of that—not that he would admit it. It didn't hurt, unless she gave the command three hundred times or so like she had when he actually didn't deserve—but hey, that spell had saved him on occasion too. When he was too stupid to duck or something. So it didn't seem like a huge deal…so why was it such a big deal now?

"Damn," he muttered. Because she had broken her promise. Because she had made that promise to begin with. Why did she have to go and do that? It wasn't like he asked her to.

_I didn't ask for quite that kind of vigilance!_

That's how all this shit started. He was just… Why did the squabble turn into this? It was probably their first real argument since she had come back. They squabbled a bit—and mostly over the furniture, interestingly enough—but this was their first fight where they had both been pissed off, not just annoyed.

He scowled and crossed his arms. He glanced down, and noticed both women were talking quietly. He learned forward, ears trained on the women, but he couldn't quite make out the words, even with his hearing. Were they purposely whispering? He heard _everything_, normally. He didn't dare get any closer, Kagome would feel his presence, and he didn't care for her to know he'd been spying on her.

* * *

"He called me a bitch."

"Pardon?" Sango asked as she turned a questioning gaze to her friend. Kagome bit her lip, shaking her head.

"It's nothing," she muttered.

Sango raised a brow with a quiet, "is that so?"

Kagome blinked at the other woman.

"Kagome, maybe it's not my place, but…oh I don't know. What were you two arguing about?"

Kagome fiddled with a piece of grass at her side.

"He moved the furniture again… turned the entire place upside-down…" she started quietly. She told her friend why she had the house set up the way it was, his reasoning for moving stuff, but then she remembered the reason she'd gone stomping off in the first place. She became more animated, whisper-shouting, about the name he had given her.

"And of course I broke my promise but…I…" her face drooped in guilt.

"Why are you whispering?"

Kagome sighed.

"He obviously doesn't realize I know he's here. I can feel him up in the trees over there." Kagome wrapped her arms about her knees, as she very subtly glanced up into the tall maple on the far side of the river. Not a bit of silver hair nor red cloth was visible, but she could feel demonic aura, just the same as any Miko. He knew this, but she wondered how much he knew about her range.

"He's watching you then. Probably making sure you're cooling off."

Kagome scoffed. "He's probably waiting for me to apologize first."

Sango shook her head, dipping the cloth she held back into the water.

"Maybe…but give him a little credit."

"I'm not going to apologize to him…not first, anyway," Kagome mumbled the last part into her knees. Sango turned back to her friend, who was staring into the water, the incident with her white-haired husband obviously still rampaging through her mind. Her expression looked…guilty. Not angry, like black-haired girl had seemed when she showed up at Sango's house.

"Well, I should hope you feel a little better, you stabbed into nearly a month's firewood."

Kagome nodded, but then thought on the comment. Well, yeah, it had felt good to take her aggression out on the wood, but now she was just left feeling down. Kagome got half a sigh out before she realized something. Besides just now, and a few days ago for Kaede, Kagome had never had to cut firewood. And besides that…

"When Inuyasha give you the axe back?"

"Not long after you moved out into the woods, why?"

Coming up behind the women was a young and middle-aged man.

"Oh, good. Kagome-sama, you're down here," came the middle-aged man.

There was a branch that had apparently fallen near the large shrine, and he wondered if it looked okay to move without damaging the sacred place. Kagome gave it thought, and decided to have a look at it, since she hadn't been to the old shrine yet today. She asked Sango if it was alright to leave her, and Sango nodded. She didn't mention how little Kagome had actually helped her.

Kagome walked slowly behind the men as they made their way to the old shrine. Kagome shook her head and tried to focus when they arrived. A branch was an understatement, the limb was as big around as the young woman's leg. She examined the tree that it had fallen from—one that had never recovered from the effects of Naraku's miasma—and determined the entire thing would come down some time in the future. Luckily, the limb that had already fallen did no damage to the shrine, and could be safely removed today. With several other men, she discussed plans to take down the dead tree before it decided to fall on its own and damage the shrine or someone's house.

"Couldn't Inuyasha do it on his own?" One of the men asked.

"Oh yes, it would be much less dangerous for him to do it. When we were repairing our homes, he brought in trees that would take entire teams of oxen to move," a second agreed.

"And some of them uprooted rather than cut!" The first interjected.

Kagome bit her lip as she glanced to the side, where she felt the faintest demonic aura from the nearby forest. She turned back to the men.

"Well… I'll…"

A third man gripped the first man's shoulder, and whispered something to him. The first man cringed with an 'Oh,'.

Kagome raised a brow.

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry, Kagome-sama. I wasn't thinking. It wouldn't be good for a demon to come in contact with the shrine while he's taking down the tree. It would take long to purify the site, would it not?"

Kagome fought the urge to look outright offended. She took a deep breath and calmly laid out her opinion of his assumption.

"No. Inuyasha would **not** defile the shrine, and I would **not** need to take extra time to purify anything," she looked between the two men with her chin held firmly. She suddenly felt the demonic aura from her husband coming much closer, and briefly wondered where he might be hiding without tall trees to cover him. She shook off the thought and nodded to the men, closing her eyes.

"Kaede's let him in here before, and she's never had to do anything extra, so why should having him take down a tree be any different?" She said with a final nod. She didn't catch the quiet comment one of the younger men made after that, but she almost thought she heard the growling of an animal somewhere in the distance. Her eyes snapped open at the sound of a slap, to see the third man holding the back of his head, and the second with his hand still up. He bowed, and apologized for his brother, followed by the third, still rubbing his head.

The rest of the discussion went without issue, and Kagome had said, hesitantly, that she would ask Inuyasha to remove the tree.

* * *

He had rarely left his various tree perches as he watched his wife. Hell, he wasn't even watching most of the time, just listening in on her, while he closed his eyes. He only started closing his eyes to her when he saw the sad expression on her face. Guilt maybe? It didn't matter. For a split second, he felt vindicated—like he was in the right—but that was quashed by his own guilt of having that sort of thought. Seeing those lovely brown eyes downturned would be the death of him. He hated it. He…he couldn't just apologize though. What would he even be apologizing for?

Oh yeah.

But that wasn't even the issue, was it? She had just misunderstood him. He had just spoken wrong. She didn't even give him a chance to fix it, she just sent him flopping to the earth. Therefore, it was her fault. So she had to be the first to apologize.

He followed her up to the old shrine she and Kaede tended, and listened in on the conversation there. He crept closer when they moved up to discuss the tree removal.

"Couldn't Inuyasha do it on his own?"

_'Fine, fine. The thing's got dry rot. Don't look like it weighs much,'_ he agreed with a roll of his eyes. They tone became hushed between the men, and so, curious, Inuyasha crept even closer, not even thinking of being within Kagome's range. He wondered what all the whispering was about.

"It wouldn't be good for a demon to come in contact with the shrine."

Inuyasha glared in the direction of the man who had spoken.

"No. Inuyasha would **not** defile the shrine." She spoke so pointedly to defend him. Inuyasha swallowed as a bead of guilt rolled through him. She always defended him, even when he got pissy with her. His eyes traced the lovely young woman's silhouette, her stance was strong, her head held high, and he knew she would defend even the mildest of comments about him. Maybe the man meant no harm in the comment, but that didn't seem to matter to the hanyou's wife. He dropped out of the tree to come nearer, crouching in some of the taller bushes to listen to what she had to say.

"Kaede's let him in here before, and she's never had to do anything extra, so why should having him take down a tree be any different?"

He wondered about that. Maybe if a demon was wrought with evil intent, if might defile the shrine, he never cared to learn much on the subject.

He heard one man, under his breath, make the comment of, "_guess it wouldn't defile it, since this one probably lets him into her body, too_."

In an instant Inuyasha was ready to tear that bastard to shreds. What the hell kind of shit was that? All concern of how Kagome had ever pissed him off in the first place flew out the window, he now only cared about that obscene comment as an unconscious snarl twisted his lips.

In all the time he'd spent around the village this kind of shit was still being said behind his back, he knew that, he knew that wouldn't change either. He had more respect to his face, but there were still the few that didn't like the idea of the dog demon roaming the village. Even if he didn't have the legend that earned the forest's name tied to him, he was still a monstrous beast to humans. He understood that, but for them to include Kagome? Those things weren't even said in a woman's presence, so why the hell would they say that? Even if for the fact she was a Miko. Here this fucker was all concerned about harming the shrine, and he said that about someone wearing those red-and-white robes? Shouldn't he be concerned about bringing the wrath of the gods on his head?

'_He's gonna feel someone's wrath,_' Inuyasha thought, his growling growing increasingly loud. The man to the idiot's left definitely heard the growling, judging from the panicked expression as he whipped his head to face where Inuyasha was crouched. Kagome must not have heard the comment, but the man standing to the right of the idiot whopped him upside the head, looking almost as offended as Kagome might have had she heard the remark. Inuyasha pried his claws out of the earth and let his growling subside. It wouldn't do to murder the men for the words Kagome didn't even notice.

The man on the right bowed and forced down the head of the middle man to bow too. He apologized, for what Kagome thought was the earlier comment about Inuyasha. Kagome agreed pleasantly to talk to her husband about the tree, as if nothing had happened to cause the white-haired youth to grind his teeth and suppress his urge to pounce on the fool who had made the obscene comment. She left the men's presence, and Inuyasha changed up his game, letting Kagome pass by Kaede's garden and head on her way before he left the brush. The men were still on the scene after Kagome was gone, so Inuyasha leapt from the bushes, out in front of the three men.

He made it obvious that he was listening to the whole thing with one slow look over the men. His eyes promised violence. They all knew it, standing stock still with a growing fear in their eyes. He kept his glare focused on the men until he was sure of it. He made sure the look was all it took to get the warning across. Sure, he was a benevolent beast—one of the protectors of that village—but that was only until you fucked with his family.

He narrowed his eyes one last time before turning on his heel and going on in the direction of the home he shared with Kagome.

* * *

At the conversation centered around her husband, she couldn't help thinking that she had been overreacting that morning…Inuyasha wasn't dull, but sometimes his mouth worked ahead of his brain. She looked over Kaede's garden as she passed, spotting no weeds that might need to be pulled, and headed back to Sango and Miroku's house. She wasn't surprised to find them out stringing laundry. She lent a hand to entertain the girls. She had perfected her flower braiding skill since the last time she watched them, but they had no interest in that today. She let the girls list off the colors of the flowers that they knew, and other random facts that they had learned until their parents had finished up.

Kagome helped the young parents around the house for another hour until Miroku suggested she get an early start home. The younger woman finally caught on, realizing she wasn't much help today, since she was…not mad anymore, but still hung up by her own actions that morning. What was Inuyasha even doing? Throughout the day she had felt him watching her. Whether he was near, or just barely within her sensing range, he was usually there. Even when she couldn't feel his presence—like currently—she was sure he was around somewhere. It was almost sweet that he was watching her—a little creepy—but sweet. If what Sango said was right, and that he wanted to make sure she was okay, it was kind of endearing. He could have just gone off to sulk somewhere, away from everyone, like he had done in the past. Sometimes he would have gone away somewhere for hours, maybe just to make her worry about him, but here he…stayed almost right beside her.

And after she had used the beads on him too. Talk about a guilt trip. What if that was the point? what if he was trying to make her feel guilty? Inuyasha had never been manipulative, but what if..?

As she started in the direction of home, she remembered that it was good she got an early start. It would take her a lot longer to put everything in its proper place, and clean up the hanyou tracks her husband had graciously left her. He probably hadn't touched the floors.

She frowned again. Of course he hadn't! It was like living with a child with all the messes he made. Her walk started to fall heavier as she made her way through the brush. Some of her annoyance had returned with the thought of what she'd have to clean up before she could be comfortable in her own home. The path was familiar, so she wasn't really looking where she was going when she stumbled.

* * *

It took longer than he'd thought, but he finally left the house and climbed back into the trees. He was still fuming about the comment that idiot had made, but he knew if he did more than give the man a warning…well, he wouldn't ruin Kagome's reputation like that. He rather liked living in an actual house in the village. If he was run out of a village for his actions, he would be fine living in the middle of the woods, but he would never force Kagome to move out there with him, and he never wanted to live apart from her again. Not ever.

He groaned and hunched down in the branch. He watched spirals of wood shaving split from the piece in his hands. His claws made for perfect chisels, as it turned out. He wasn't imagining it was anyone's face he was tearing into as he carved random shapes into the wood. It was tempting, but he wouldn't even let the thought into his mind. He didn't know how long he sat, muttering to himself and carving into the wood block, but he realized at some point he was idly carving a little tanuki statue. It was crude, since he had never been particularly artistic, but the shape was undeniably a raccoon-dog to him. He turned it over in his hands, looking for how to refine the shape and scratch off any splinters when his nose twitched to the scent of his wife.

He didn't intend to stay back here long, he had planned to go back to following Kagome around, but his destructive nature got the best of him. He ran his thumb over the little carving while he looked for his wife on her way down the path. Well, perhaps it wasn't that destructive, considering he'd actually managed to make something out of the chunk of wood he'd set out to destroy.

He spotted her shoving past a flowering bush as she came down. His ears flattened back with a scowl. She was stomping her way through the forest, still mad at him.

He flopped against the bark with a huff, thumb still tracing over the lines of the little carving while he closed his eyes. He opened his eyes to stare at the branch before him as the sound of heavy footfalls came closer. He sighed as his wife passed the tree he was propped in. No, he wasn't really mad at her anymore, but he was still upset about that stupid remark. Upset that he was upset. If Miroku had said something like that, then he would pelt him with rocks, but he wouldn't actually weigh the pros and cons of murdering the freak. Granted, this man was not Miroku, not a friend, and he had the audacity to make the comment where Kagome could hear it. She didn't, lucky her.

The real issue was that it was a matter of respect. He knew he had gained a certain level of respect in four years' time; since women didn't hide their children when he walked about, and men came to him when they had a task too big to complete in a timely manner. But it wasn't like he didn't hear the whispers when his ears twitched to a noise, or some movement he made brought attention to his claws, or some expression that he wore made his fangs more noticeable. The whispers didn't count the older residents, who either saw firsthand, or were told secondhand what he did fifty-some years ago when he thought he'd been betrayed. He _had_ trashed the village. One person died in the fires. Some walked away with scars from the debris that got tossed around. Kaede's eye hadn't gotten that way on its own. Most of those people still openly glared.

But Kagome had done nothing to deserve anything less than praise and respect. The respect of a woman and the respect of a Miko. The respect to not have her goddamned sex life brought up by random acquaintances.

He slumped down further in his seat. Still, he _was_ angry about it. Kagome was still angry at him. If he faced her now, she would assume he was still mad, since he couldn't get rid of his scowl. He refused to tell her what he had overheard. He didn't know how she would react and he didn't care to put that on her mind.

He shook his head and leapt into another tree, farther away from the trail she would be taking to make sure she wouldn't know where he was. He tucked the unfinished carving into his clothes and watched Kagome come up the path. She seemed to be muttering something, though Inuyasha heard nothing. He sighed again and turned his head off to the side, idly watching the patterns made by the rays streaming in through the leaves.

He heard a scuffle and Kagome squealed. He was ready to dip down the second he heard her voice. He hesitated for some reason, and it was already done and over with. Kagome had stumbled, and gripped onto the bushes to regain her balance. He remembered her earlier insistence that she was, in fact, not a klutz. Well, he still thought she was, but she had a point in saying she could always get back up on her own, without him there to catch her. He sat back down as she dusted off her hakama and stared back at the stickerbushes that had snagged her leg.

He sighed. He would have to cut those back later.

* * *

Kagome walked more carefully down the path to the clearing. She took note of the Inuyasha-shaped indent in the earth and winced. She shook her head and pulled back her sleeves, since she would still have to clean the floors. She pulled back the screen and blinked at the state of the room.

A small smile developed on her lips. All her things were back in their proper places, as if they had never moved. She looked down over the floors. Swept and mopped just like she had asked that morning. She took a few steps in and noticed that the bowls and cups had even been straightened up. She glanced to the other side of the room…he even dusted. She scanned over the firepit, which had been cleaned as well. Above her head, her pots were hung neatly, from largest to smallest. Her kitchen area had been wiped down extensively, and a few green vegetables had been cleaned for dinner. The wood pile had been replenished by the back, and it looked like he had played Tetris with the different sized logs.

Kagome held her arm as her smile began to fade. She bit her lip, wondering where he had gone that he left all this for her. Then she remembered she could feel the slightness of his demonic aura nearby…as it had been all day. So when had he had time to do all this?

Guilt washed over her when she remembered that that morning she had implied he was lazy. No, he did a lot around the house actually. Stuff she never thought about. Since they had this house, she had never once had to chop her own wood. Whenever the little bit they kept in the house got low, without word and without thought, there was more firewood in the house next time she checked. When Kagome mentioned she wanted fish, or rabbit, or pheasant, within twenty minutes Inuyasha would push back that screen, catch in hand. Sometimes, fresh water was ready for breakfast, and Inuyasha had slipped back into bed without his wife's notice. Or right after waking, he would leave for all of one minute and return without her ever having asked.

She had never even seen him cut wood, he had done that when she wasn't aware of it. Her husband wasn't as cleanly as she was, and she still had to remind Inuyasha to skin and pluck the catches _outside_. However, in the grand scheme, that wasn't a huge issue…the fish bones she found everywhere though…

She said some obnoxious things, the same as he did. She found herself blinking quite a bit as she sighed. She exited the house and turned her face up into the trees. She rubbed her arm and tried to figure what direction to walk.

"Inuyasha?" she called, with no response. She walked a little ways from the house, back into the treeline.

"Inuyasha?" she repeated.

She bit her lip as she walked, trying to figure out which tree he was in. She sighed. She looked down at her feet and continued, "I know you're there…you've been right beside me all day."

She looked back up into the trees.

"So please come down?" She asked, her voice small and her tone entreating.

She heard a sigh behind her.

"I'm here," he said as she turned to face him. She scanned over his face. Only the slight tension in his jaw showed his irritation. Kagome nodded once, coming to look down at her folded hands.

"I was being stupid. I should never have used the beads on you," she gave quietly.

His breath came out as a sigh.

"It's fine," he started but was cut off.

"Except that it's not fine. I said I wouldn't, and I ended up doing it anyway. I'm sorry Inuyasha. I really, really won't do it aga—"

"Don't make any promises," he interrupted, "you will."

Kagome sucked in a breath and met his eyes again. He was feeling really hurt by it, wasn't he?

"I won't! I mean it—I-I'll try to avoid even thinking about it."

Inuyasha huffed and scratched his head.

"I ain't even bothered by _that_, really. So you don't gotta apologize. As for me, I've gotta watch my mouth, I know."

She shook her head in disbelief. Had she broken the poor guy?

"Don't look like that," he started, taking a step forward, "you act like it's such a big deal. I'm kind of an ass, I get it. Let me know when I'm out of line. I don't care if you stop using the thing or not, but don't _promise_ me _anything_."

Kagome tilted her head, pondering the words he held special emphasis on. He took another step forward, and Kagome a step backwards—confused. He glanced down at her feet before closing the gap in a few more steps. He held her gently by the elbows as Kagome stared up at him, still trying to decipher his expression. He didn't sound irritated, but the set of his jaw still indicated that he might be.

His grip shifted to her legs and back as he picked her up and leapt up into a tree. Kagome released her grip of his arm when he sat them down, holding Kagome in his lap like a child. She caught his eyes when she leaned back, and he looked away.

"Are you still mad at me?" He asked of the leaves.

Kagome sighed. She leaned her forehead against his chest.

"Thank you, Inuyasha." He sighed against her hair.

"You do so much for me, without me even knowing…but…"

He twitched at the 'but'.

"I think…you might have been right. I do trip right in the entryway a lot. So, rethinking the layout would be best." She thought she felt a chuckle in his chest.

"Probably," he agreed. She lifted her head to look at him again. She stared at him for several seconds, and he let her cup his face. She kissed him and whispered so quietly that only he would ever be able to hear.

"You're good to me."

"Yeah," he returned, "when we're not screaming at each other."

He helped Kagome shift to facing out towards the forest. He held her securely, twining his fingers under her bust. Kagome relaxed into him and he sighed, setting his chin on her head and looking out into the forest. They sat like that for a few comfortable minutes as Kagome's eyes drifted closed against the afternoon sun. They remained like that until a thought popped into Kagome's head.

"Hey, Inuyasha?"

"Mn?"

"Do we have an axe?"

Inuyasha blinked in confusion, lifting his head away from Kagome's.

"No…?"

"Huh, Sango said you gave hers back a while ago?"

Inuyasha looked around the forest, as if an attempt to find her point.

"I did…"

"How'd you cut all that firewood?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Ain't it obvious?"

Kagome frowned. She turned her head to look at him from the corner of her eye.

"I'm serious."

Inuyasha scoffed, removing one hand from his lovely wife's middle to dig in his clothing. He handed her something. It was wooden and lumpy. Kagome turned it over and thought the more she looked at it, the more is almost—_almost_—resembled some sort of animal. But what did that have to do with the firewood?

"If I get my claws into it, wood will split right along the grain."

"Huh," Kagome breathed, "and here I thought you might be using Tessaiga."

Inuyasha sputtered behind her before breaking into a noisy chuckle.

Kagome chuckled from his reaction to the joke. She looked down at the rough little wood carving.

"Did you make this?"

The man behind her gave an affirmative grunt.

"It's a bear, that's kind of cute."

"It's not a bear, it's a tanuki."

Kagome squinted at the little object.

"This is not a raccoon-dog."

"Do bears have tails?" Inuyasha retorted.

"No. But taniki always have giant tes—you know what, I'll take your word for it."

"Well, thanks," Inuyasha replied with sarcasm, "sorry I have no talent."

Kagome giggled and snuggled back into her husband's chest, and he replaced his hands under her bust and his head on top of hers once again.

* * *

...

* * *

If you're confused, just google "Raccoon dog tanuki" and you'll see why Kagome didn't recognize the tanuki carving.

I thought the "Sit Boy" in the epilogue was kind of forced, but I do consider it canon, and since Inuyasha didn't seem surprised when she did it then, she must have done it a few times in the past. I couldn't think of a good reason for her to use the command at first, so I orchestrated their first real fight since Kagome came back, over one of the stupid things couples argue about. Hence, the end of the honeymoon period. Also, Inuyasha calling Kagome a bitch is a translation error, but I needed something to work with so lets go with it.

I let a little bit of this slip yeasterday, and I have a few people convinced this chapter was going to be angst, but it's not. I hope y'all aren't disappointed. It will be a few chapters yet before I dabble in angst.

Also, I hope the next chapter is shorted, though this one actually only took three days to type, it was a lot of me procrastinating because I knew it would be a bear to write.


	13. Nothing As Planned-Part I

**Nothing As Planned-Part I**

"I would like to hear this news for myself, but I can't at the moment," Miroku told his friend while pouring water over his garden. "Ichiro is still nursing; I can't risk Sango falling ill."

"Who's sick?" Asked a female voice, before a black-haired woman walked into view. Her Miko robes were covered in moss. She patted herself off with one hand and balanced a basket of mushrooms on her hip.

"The girls've got some sort of stomach problem," replied the hanyou sitting atop the garden fence.

"Oh. Miroku, why didn't you say? I can give them something to settle their stomachs a bit."

The young father waved off her concerns.

"I've already given them a little medicine." He sighed, "right now I'm watching to make sure they don't get worse." He turned to Inuyasha.

"I am sorry, my friend."

Inuyasha shrugged.

"I get it. Your kids're sick, no need to go chasin' rumors when they may not have any payoff anyway."

Kagome touched her fingertips to her lips as she looked between the two men.

"Why can't Inuyasha go by himself? It would be a lot faster for him to travel alone to check on this rumor, wouldn't it?" Inuyasha shot her an annoyed look, as if she had said something wrong. Kagome tilted her head in confusion, and shifted her gaze to the monk. He was mouthing something for a moment as he looked overhead.

"Well—" he started but was cut off my a loud scoff from his friend. Kagome looked back to her husband as he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

Miroku cleared his throat and continued.

"Yes and no. He could very well travel the distance, but should the rumors be true—"

"Whatever humans needed a demon slain would never let me set foot in their village, let alone pay me when it was over," Inuyasha finished for the monk.

Kagome gawked.

"That's-that's-that is—"

"Pretty damn common."

Miroku hummed in agreeance.

"However, they are much more trusting when they see that a monk is beside what they presume to be a demon. They assume I have—" he turned to glance at his friend, "everything under control."

"Bah," Inuyasha huffed, "some damn trained dog is what those bastards assume I am." Unfortunately, Inuyasha was exactly right. Though he wore Shinto beads, most simple folks couldn't tell the difference between those and the mala Buddhists kept. They assumed the beads about his neck were some unique form of the prayer beads. Their holy energy used to keep the 'demon's' power suppressed until the monk had use of them. They were pretty far off in their assumption, but below that was a layer of truth, through a different practice, and a different hand to rein the 'demon' in.

Miroku clicked his tongue once.

"Oh, don't worry. Everyone around here knows that there's not a soul alive that can get a leash on you…besides Kagome, of course," he relayed, flashing a smile towards his female friend. She rolled her eyes. Inuyasha's scowl just deepened, not welcoming of the dog reference. Miroku turned back to his house to check on his family and Kagome followed. A thought struck her suddenly.

"What if I go with him?"

Miroku stopped at his door.

"Now there's a thought."

Kagome gave the idea more thought.

"Yes! It would feel good to get out of the village for a change, even if it is just a rumor."

A soft thud followed by light footfalls ran up behind her.

"Not happenin'," Inuyasha declared. Kagome spun to face him. Inuyasha felt a chill down his spine with the sparkly, happy, hopeful brown eyes that glittered up at him. That was the look of a very determined Kagome. If he didn't think of a good argument now he would never get through to—

"Wouldn't it be great Inuyasha? Traveling around, helping people. Just the two of us—just like the days before Shippo, Miroku, Kirara, Sango? Oh, it'll be wonderful."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to try and shut her dow—

"That way Miroku could stay at home taking care of the girls, and even if the the rumor turns out to be nothing, then he wouldn't have to take time away from home for nothing."

"Now wait just one minu—"

"Oh, I should tell Kaede I'll be leaving for a while. I'm sure she won't mind when I explain the situation to her," she said, pushing past her stunned husband to speed walk down the path.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called out.

A suspisious-sounding giggle came in reply. She was doing that on purpose! Inuyasha took one look at his friend—who was desperately trying not to laugh—before chasing her down. He caught up to her in a second, holding her by the arms. Her overly-excited façade dropped into a softer, knowing smile.

"Inuyasha," she began.

"No," he said with a shake of his head.

"Come on."

"_We're _not going. _I'm_ not letting you go."

Kagome sighed. Things had started to seem a little mundane since Shippo had left, and she figured this would be a nice change of pace. She told him if would be a little like a vacation for her—one that would bring with it a little bit of nostalgia. Besides if the rumors of a village in need of demon slayers, they'd be able to keep whatever reward the village got together for them. Inuyasha refused to hear it.

"Yeah, and what then? What if there is a bloodthirsty monster out to swallow up humans, hm?" He huffed, "you're not leaving the forest. It's safe here."

"The forest is only safe because you're around. So technically, I'm only _safe_ when I'm with you. Which I will be. When we leave together."

Inuyasha scowled.

"Don't try to twist this on me."

Kagome sighed. Inuyasha looked off to the side. An eavesdropping group of women—working outside their stuffy houses—immediately turned back to their work. He leaned closer to Kagome to whisper.

"I just got you back. Just a few months ago, I—"

"Don't twist this on me," Kagome repeated his words.

"You'll be right with me. That's where I'm safest by your ideas, right?"

* * *

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha wrapped his fist about the tentacle twisted around his body and sword arm. He clamped down harder until his claws pierced the rough hide of the limb. Vibrant teal blood sprayed out onto his arm and legs. He twisted and squeezed until the tension disappeared. He released his hold and the limb squirmed wildly, untangling from him.

As it would turn out, these rumors were true. Some strange, crayfish-like monsters had suddenly appeared in the lake, and its river offshoot. They were devouring whatever came near the water's edge, and more recently, lifting themselves onto the shore before dawn for more availability of food—namely, villagers that lived near the lake. Those who could leave already had, but those who had no option to were desperately trying to get help.

Inuyasha's eyes searched out Kagome, finding her with two smaller demons nearer the water's edge. He panicked as he watched Kagome run and reach over her shoulder for an arrow. She was so clumsy, he knew she was going to trip—she was going to trip!—and that would be the end for her.

She was so stupid for insisting she come. He was stupid for letting her! She was going to let herself be killed—and it would be all his fault. It was his fault for _not_ being a selfish bastard, and listening to her opinions. He took a leap in her direction. The spindly end of a tentacle wrapped around his leg. His opponent was not the sort that appreciated in being ignored. He was jerked up into the air, before being slammed down against the earth, face first. Inuyasha's world went dark and quiet when he was slammed down a second time. Light returned to him with a terrible burning sensation in his right eyes, and the sight of the creature's spread jaws from the left. Inuyasha struggled against the demon's crayfish-like forelimbs and tentacles. He clenched his fists, noticing he must have dropped the Tessaiga, so his did what he could think of, purposely shoving his hand inside the beast's mouth. It bit down in surprise, but Inuyasha drove his claws up through the soft inside of its throat. His blue, gore-covered hand emerged from the top of the head and the beast toppled from the fatal wound.

Inuyasha threw himself away from the pile of flesh and stumbled in the direction Kagome had been. He could only see from one eye, the other burning terribly. He snatched up Tessaiga and sprinted into the forest, where Kagome had run. He ran right into a warm body and jumped back when he kicked it. It reeked of swamp, rot, and burning flesh.

Thank god! She had killed one of those things. The burning was the result of her arrow embedded in the flesh. There was no time for celebration as he heard the twang of a bow and the screeching of the third beast. Her panting breaths lead him straight towards her, and he knew he had found her when she shrieked his name.

"Look out!"

But there was no way he could. Both his eyes were burning now. He felt the cooling liquid, and tasted the iron of his own blood, he knew it was from a gash over his eye which dripped and clouded his vision. He heard something to the left, and countered to the right. He had made the wrong decision. He realized this as a searing pain tore through his chest.

"Rggh!" he roared when the beast retracted its crayfish-like leg. The backwards-facing barbs ripped open the wound further and Inuyasha fell to his knees with a devastating…splash. More warmth pumped out onto his hands and he squeezed one against his chest. For him to lose so much blood so quickly the path must have encountered an artery or-or…with this much blood, he should have passed out already.

Kagome fired another arrow towards the demon, trying to avoid hitting her husband in the chaos. It snagged onto a tree and sprung itself out of the arrow's path. Kagome moved in front of her husband—she needed to be closer to get a good shot off. Although it was a water-dwelling beast, it moved with incredible speed by pulling itself along by the trees. She didn't even glance at Inuyasha. He had been stabbed through countless times, and would stand up soon.

She heard the low rumbling behind her. That was surely Inuyasha gaining strength from his anger, and he would be up soon to help her. She narrowly dodged one strike from a tentacle, but scattered most of her arrows. She clutched tightly to the one in her right hand. Another strike was meant to wrap around her, but in the moment, Inuyasha wrapped a hand around her elbow and yanked her down to him. The demon had, however, succeeded in knocking them to the side. Kagome came down hard on top of her husband and scrambled to get off his chest and spin around. She glanced at her one good arrow before nudging her husband's shoulder.

"I only have the one shot. I need your Windscar," she told him with a nod. He didn't respond. He didn't move. He didn't acknowledge her words in the slightest, but his growling had never stopped, droning on continuously.

"Inuyasha?" She whispered, daring to look at her husband, and away from the beast slowly moving towards them, stalking them like the prey they were. Kagome let out a gasp as she took in his visage. His face was covered in blood from a wound over his left eye, and his eyes were pinched shut to block the blood. That was not what elicited the gasp. That was the result of seeing the jagged purple streaks growing and darkening on his cheekbones. He was opening and closing his jaw to make way for the longer fangs the emerged from the corners of his mouth.

Kagome fell back in shock, staring fully at something she hadn't seen since…the last time he had this form was inside Naraku's body. He was possessed. Magatsuhi was trying to get Inuyasha to kill her. The… the Tessaiga was right beside him and now so…

"Inuyasha?" She said with a squeak. Inuyasha's ear flicked in her direction before his head turned. His eyes were still pinched closed by his nose and ears twitched to take in her presence. Kagome sat there, shocked, as Inuyasha lifted one clawed hand and moved it towards her.

* * *

...

* * *

Shorter than the last bunch, but written in 4 hours, so I know there's a lot of mistakes that I will come to edit when it's not 3 am.

Mollusks and other weird critters have blue blood. They have copper in their blood, unlike the iron of red blood. Iron rust is red-orange, Copper rust is blue-green, makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

Don't worry.


	14. Nothing as Planned-Part II

**Nothing as Planned-Part II**

"Inuyasha?" She said with a squeak. Inuyasha's ear flicked in her direction before his head turned. His eyes were still pinched closed by his nose and ears twitched to take in her presence. Kagome sat there, shocked, as Inuyasha lifted one clawed hand and moved it towards her.

She didn't even flinch when his palm came to rest against her cheek. She held still for a moment, only crinkling her nose with the smell of blue and red blood now smeared on her face. He was…not behaving like he had in the past when those stripes appeared on his cheeks. From what she remembered, he was usually so caught up in violence and bloodlust that he couldn't focus on anything else. Not her welfare, not restraint—nothing at all. He almost seemed…in control—even concerned about her. She could remember a brief time when he had been pushed this far by Tessaiga, as the only other time there was thought behind his actions.

"I'm alri—" she started as Inuyasha's ear flicked. He grabbed her under the arms and leapt away, before the beast slammed down where the two had been sitting. Unfortunately, without the ability to see or smell clearly, Inuyasha rammed right into a tree, slamming his back right against it. Kagome realized then that her decision to run into the woods was the worst possible, with the newfound speed of the monster, and made graver by the temporary blindness of her husband. She shifted her head around, realizing that they weren't too far from the river offshoot, where there would be less things to run into.

"This way!" She latched onto Inuyasha's hand, dragging him along as she sprinted through the clearest paths she could find, so he wouldn't run into anything.

"Where?" He asked. Kagome nearly got a chill from the sound of his voice. The tenor of the voice was similar to her husband's, but the rasp behind it and the resonating snarl were much too like a demon's. She didn't answer him, but with every log or rock she ran into she warned him of, she looked back at him once. He was trying to wipe the blood from his eyes, and he opened the once, showing off the red and blue of his demonic blood. He quickly shut them with an aggravated growl.

She heard snapping brush and came to a halt before the demon crashed right in front of them. Inuyasha ran right into her, and the beast grabbed at both of them. Inuyasha swung his sword, severing the appendage that held himself. Kagome nearly squealed as she was lifted into the air, before an idea struck her.

"Kagome?!"

She ignored the call, allowing the beast to draw her closer to its mouth until she was within reach. She gripped the tentacle that held her, allowing her Miko energy to burn the hide. Within an arm's length of its mouth she lifted her one arrow and forced her hand down as hard as she could. The energy that had been drawn into the arrowhead burned a hole through its bony armor and blazed with a white light. The thing screeched as she drew it back out. It threw the Miko away from itself. Kagome landed at the water's edge with a thud. Her body shook with the force of the impact, and she was shaky to get up as the thing stumbled out of the forest, still wailing. Her husband emerged soon after, slicing away blindly at the slowed creature.

"Kagome!" He shouted again.

"I'm over here," she returned, nocking her arrow and taking aim. The thing was slower now, but she still couldn't get a clear shot with her husband in the way.

The enraged thing took a swipe at the hanyou, sending him sprawling onto his back, but not immobilized. He struck blindly, but caught Tessaiga in a chink in the armor, continued through, and severed the fleshy tail. A wave of Miko energy brushed violently against him and the smell of burning flesh reached his nose as chucks of gore fell atop him. He stood and brushed the bits of flesh away, nose twitching wildly to catch the scent of his wife. Running footfalls made him tense, but he exhaled I relief a second before thin arms came to wrap around his chest from behind. She came in front of him to examine his wounds. She ran a hand over the wound on his chest, and stared at the bare, _healed_ skin through the hole in his clothes. That was…usually it would take at least a while before he was fully healed.

"That's the last of them?" He asked. Kagome nodded, before remembering he still had his eyes shut. She told him she didn't sense anything, before instructing Inuyasha to sit against a tree. She hurried back with a container of water to flush the blood. He tipped his head back and blinked rapidly as his wife poured water over his eyes. She pushed his hair away to look at the source of the blood, only to realize that the cut had healed as well. A memory from earlier days struck her. Whenever he was injured while his demon blood flared up, his wounds would heal almost instantly. Much faster than the normally increased rate of healing he had.

"You're handlin' this well."

Kagome tipped the water container once more over Inuyasha's eyes, washing the last of the blood out. Inuyasha blinked forcefully, squeezing the excess water from his eyes. He blinked the clarity back into his vision, focusing ahead to make sure his sight was back to normal.

"When…you don't seem surprised that you're…" Kagome murmered.

Inuyasha wiped his face with his sleeve. When he blinked once more and looked back to his wife, his eyes were still pink, but Kagome couldn't tell if his sclera's color was still residing, or if it was from the irritation. The purple stripes were still etched into his skin, but she could see the color receding.

"Yeah, well that's cuz I've about gotten used to this shit happening now." Inuyasha flinched at the sound of his own voice. That low rumble in the back of his throat was unfamiliar to him, and needlessly held a threat towards even his loving wife. Yet, if he thought about it more, the rasp and roar to his tone was becoming more recognizable to his own voice.

Kagome's brows knit as her husband continued.

"Happens all the time now. Someone figured—I dunno who; Sango, Miroku, the old flea—that it's whenever I lose enough blood. Bah…something about final measures to protect myself."

Kagome's eyes opened wide at that last part.

"Final measures?! As in you were close to death? Inuyasha! If I had—"

"Woah, woah, hold on—I wasn't close to dying! You know full well I've survived worse! That ain't the first time I been stabbed through the chest." He saw Kagome tense at his words. He couldn't help the snarl in his voice, but the last thing he wanted to do was make Kagome nervous. He opened his mouth to speak again, but with a shake of her head, Kagome interrupted him.

"Is…is that the case? But Inuyasha, I've never seen you transform unless—"

"Yeah, well things are a little different now," he said, looking directly into her worried eyes. Kagome stared back for several seconds. Her eyes dropped away. The markings on his face had receded, and he closed his jaw properly with his more manageable canines. His ears perked up at the sound of her sigh. He continued to stare on as she crossed her arms and looked away. It was another few seconds before she visibly shivered.

"Wow, this is…this is so weird. It's the first time I've felt like I actually missed something while we were separated those few years."

Inuyasha squinted just a second before straightening his back.

"You ain't missed anything really. You've seen me get like that all the time. It was just that the last time you…did…" Inuyasha's eyes widened with the memory of the last time she really had seen him transform. He jumped to his feet, grimacing when Kagome startled.

"Kagome…" he muttered as he stared at her.

Kagome blinked several times before tilting her head to the side.

"The last time you saw me transform was—how come you're not freaked out? Damn, I—I tried to kill you the last time you saw me like this."

Kagome's puzzled expression dropped into calm, as she very pointedly made eye contact with her husband.

"No. _Magatsuhi_ tried to kill me."

Inuyasha's thought process stalled out for a second as he mulled over her words. There was something wrong with that statement. He didn't know what it could have been, but something wasn't quite right. The wheels began turning as he tried to pull forth just what was so…wrong about her words. There was some need for him to correct her, but he couldn't remember the reason. He tried to go back to that dark, foggy day in his memory, but it was just that. Fog obscured every bit of the memory, as it would a dream.

Suddenly, a clue popped up. He brought his hand up to watch the final changes to his blue and red-covered claws and remembered why her statement seemed so wrong. Yes, he had been possessed. No, he would never—ever—have it in his head to harm Kagome in any way. That didn't change the sensory memory he was getting now. Her blood. The scent of it had clung to his claws then, his only indicator that he had used them against her. Whether he had been possessed or not—being weak enough to let himself be possessed—that still weighed heavily on his mind. It didn't matter whose mind had been in control, it was still _his_ claws that had carried out the deed.

A small hand covered his own then, bringing it back down to his side. Her eyes were so clear and loving—despite the worry that sat at the surface now.

"I don't know what's going on in our head," she started softly, "but no, the only reason I have to be freaked out is 'cause you just said…I don't understand Inuyasha."

Inuyasha blinked.

"Don't understand?"

"Well, these demons weren't that big, or even tough. So why now? Why did you transform now?"

"What? That's what you're worried about?"

"Of course! You said you were close to death, but these should have been easier to take care of, so why were…Inuyasha don't scare me, but does this happen all the time when you've been going out with Miroku? I never thought you were ever in serious danger—"

"What? No! You think I'm stupid, I'd never let myself be killed by any of these vermin," Inuyasha scoffed, unaware of her place of mind.

"So why now?"

The next words tumbled from Inuyasha's mouth before he had a chance to think them over.

"Miroku can handle himself. I don't gotta worry about him."

Kagome's face hardened as Inuyasha caught the implications of his own words. His mind ran in circles for a second too long as he tried to find a way to correct his words.

''I can't handle myself? You told me the exact opposite of that not too long ago."

"W-well yeah. I-I mean," he stammered, "that's—I just, uh, I kept looking over at you because I was…Miroku's not my wife, okay? I don't get distracted checkin' to see if he's alright."

Kagome's expression went calm, but Inuyasha had the sneaking suspicion that was a false calm.

"So, you let your guard down…in the face of a foe…because you were with me?"

Inuyasha pursed his lips.

"Yeah, okay, I did. I let my guard down because I was stupid enough to think you couldn't handle yourself, and I paid for it, okay?"

"Shouldn't you have a little more faith in me?"

She looked at him sternly. It wasn't a question he needed to answer. Inuyasha scowled deeply as Kagome turned her head away. She sighed again.

"I need to soak these before the stains set in," she said, indicating her clothes. Inuyasha grit his teeth, but conceded. That was a valid point, but he didn't feel right about leaving the discussion there.

* * *

"I'm sorry we don't have two separate rooms available, but we have put up a screen to divide the empty house we have available," explained the man who led them along to the only abandoned hut still standing. While it was now a few hours before dawn, Inuyasha knew it would be better for Kagome to get a nap before they tried to make the trip home. Truth be told, he was a little tired, himself. Right now though, his main concern was a little different.

"Oh, that's fine," Kagome started to wave off his concern, "see, Inuyasha and I are already—"

"—used to sleeping on the ground the way here, so whatever sleeping situation you've got is better than nothing," Inuyasha interrupted.

"Hey!" Kagome frowned at Inuyasha for cutting her off.

"Bah, you sleep. I'm more concerned about getting something to eat."

The man blinked.

"O-oh. Well, my older daughters will be more than happy to prepare a meal for the two of you, since we weren't able to give you much as payment." The sleeves of the borrowed yukata she wore created the perfect place to fidget with the few coins they had been given. The village did seem rather poor, so she was surprised they had managed to scrounge up a few coins to pay the pair. She almost felt guilty for taking the money, all things considered.

"Would you like to eat now, or after you've slept, Miko-sama?"

"Um…" Kagome rocked back on her heels. "I think I'll take a nap first."

The man nodded and showed her into the hut where a pair of straw-stuffed mats were laid out.

* * *

Inuyasha tried to be silent as he entered, but the mat scraped against the wood when it fell. Kagome was barely dosing, so that sound and the feel of her husband's presence were enough to draw her eyes open.

"Go back to sleep," Inuyasha whispered as he passed the window to lean against the wall. The light from the predawn sky in through the broken window was enough to see the white-haired man by. Kagome rolled over to face the opposite wall. She tried to stay still, but after a few minutes, she rolled back over to face at her husband. His eyes were closed, but his ears were still twitching to birdcalls. She pushed the thin covering off her and Inuyasha's ears twitched forward at the sound of the fabric moving. His eyes opened to the sight of his wife crawling over to him.

"What're you doing?" he asked, as she crawled directly in front of him. "Hold on," he muttered, unfolding his legs for her to sit between them. He didn't understand when she was doing as she leaned herself into him.

"What're you doing?" he repeated. She shrugged. He uncrossed his arms and pulled them out from between the pair and to his sides.

"You stopped me from saying we were married."

He huffed at that.

"You know why."

Kagome sighed.

"I love you."

Inuyasha looked out the second window. The leaves hadn't yet starting changing colors, but even a short distance further north as they were, he could feel the temperature changing. It wouldn't be long before the very tops of the leaves would begin to yellow. He counted back the months, since Kagome had returned. It was the very end of Spring then. Here it was the very end of Summer. Kagome had been back for three months, and they had been married for three months…but…outside of their circle of friends, that marriage had to be ignored. Inuyasha had known that the second Kagome suggested they marry, and he had the feeling Kagome was coming to terms with it as well.

"Inuyasha…you said that you transformed with Miroku around?"

Inuyasha growled in annoyance. Okay, so he hadn't liked where the conversation had been, but did she really need to bring it up right _now_? He was just getting comfortable.

"Three times is all."

"Three times? You got that badly hurt three times?"

Inuyasha scoffed. He hadn't really gotten hurt that badly on any of the jobs he'd taken. The first time was actually the fault of humans firing at him. He'd gone on ahead of Miroku on a job, and the humans there mistakenly fired on him while he was tackling the ogre. 'Mistakenly' being a curious word, when the hanyou had six bullet wounds and was down a good liter or two of blood. Miroku had panicked, thinking Inuyasha would go on a rampage, but he instead took his aggression out on the ogre, left into the woods, and returned some minutes later. The second and third time he had been first bitten savagely to the bone, his left wrist bleeding freely. The third was the result of slash to the stomach, when Inuyasha couldn't bring Tessaiga down fast enough.

"But everytime it's happened, I've always known what I was doing. I was awake the entire time, and in complete control of my body."

Kagome was sure that he was, yes, but how could that be so different from earlier times. She had once been told that for every time Inuyasha transformed, it took a little piece of him, and made it easier from something to trigger this form the next time. If that were true, it made sense that losing a couple liters of blood might be enough to trigger it now, made easier by how many times his blood had flared up…but what of the piece of himself that he had lost? He didn't really seem to be missing anything, did he? Was everything that everyone had to say about Inuyasha based on hypothesis and assumption?

Like the assumption that Inuyasha would be a mongrel beast. That she must be purely his master, and he her guard dog. This village seemed pleasant enough, allowing Inuyasha to eat their food even without Kagome present, but what of the next? That was one of Inuyasha's major concerns if she let their relationship slip outside the village they had taken on as home. He feared the ruin of Kagome's reputation. Her reputation as a Miko…and as a woman. He had heard the names his mother had been called behind her back, and in the case of Izayoi's aunt, to her face. He didn't wish that for Kagome. It was bad enough he had to snip at the rare villager who made comment about her.

He heard Kagome wimper. He turned his attention to her and caught her with her hand on her belly.

"You okay?"

Kagome blinked. "Huh? Yeah, why?"

Inuyasha shrugged it off, settling back into the wall. He heard a coop of chickens somewhere waking up, and not long after, the sounds of voices. He listened carefully for any footsteps that might be coming to check on them. None were coming, but he sat up straighter, and leaned away from Kagome.

"C'mon you should eat something so we can head back."

* * *

Inuyasha was watching his wife closely as she walking in front of him. She was walking a little slower than normal, and in turn, he had slowed his pace to compete with a turtle's. Kagome was probably just tired. Hell, he was tired, and he wasn't the one that needed to sleep a third of their life. That was to be expected though. He normally was very tired after being forced into his demon state. Being like that required a lot of energy, he figured.

Kagome looked back at just the wrong time, while his eyes closed for a yawn. When he opened back up, Kagome was smiling at him with a cute chuckle in her voice as she asked if he was tired. He scoffed and crossed his arms. She asked him why he hadn't slept in the hut. He could have waited until morning to eat. His brows knit as a wry grin spread on her lips. She knew his appetite. He was always hungry, and would never miss an opportunity to eat—granted the food wasn't burnt or over-spiced. he had told her once that he probably could go months without eating, but Kagome didn't understand how that was possible in all the times she had seen him gorge himself. He was lucky he provided and ate mostly the meat he caught, or else she'd scold him when they ran out of rice and vegetables.

She held a hand to her belly again, and for a second, Inuyasha thought the mention of food had made her hungry again, but that was wiped away when her other hand flew up to her mouth.

"Kagome?" He asked, as panic flashed in her eyes. She ran off the side of the road. Inuyasha ran after her, and crinkled his nose when the smell hit him. He laid a hand on her shoulder. She threw up again. She wobbled a little, and Inuyasha put his hands under her arms to let her know is she needed to fall back he'd catch her.

"Kagome? What's wrong with you? Did you eat something bad?"

"Ughh," was her only response before her stomach lurched a third time, and she finished emptying her stomach. Her knees wobbled and she leaned into Inuyasha. He pulled her away from the mess and sat her down beside at tree. He laid a hand of each of their foreheads.

"Y'ain't runnin' a fever."

"I'm feeling okay…I just needed to puke a little."

"Right," Inuyasha scoffed. "You gonna be okay for a while?"

Kagome nodded. Inuyasha returned the nod. She said she was fine, but now that he paid attention, he smelled sickness on her, and knew this would just be the start. He had to get her home as fast as he could, and it wasn't gonna work at the snail's pace she was setting. He threw her on his back and took off, trying to run as smoothly as possible. Not twenty minutes had passed before she needed off.

"letmedownletmedown!"

She jumped away from her and hunched over again, this time only resulting in dry heaves. When her stomach had calmed, she sat back and growled in frustration. Inuyasha felt her forehead again and shook his head.

"Well, you _didn't_ have a fever two seconds ago."

"Ohh… I'm sick…" Kagome groaned.

"No shit," Inuyasha returned.

"Is this what the girls have?" Kagome asked, rubbing her hand down her face. Inuyasha shrugged but gave an affirmative grunt.

"You okay for another run?"

Kagome nodded.

"I'd much rather be sick in my own home than out here."

Inuyasha helped his wife onto his back again, and started again in the direction of the village.

* * *

I don't know how to fix chapter 13, but here's chapter 14! I don't really want to go into detail, but I always had this idea that after the Kanna and final Naraku arc, Inuyasha has a bit more control over himself why in his demon state, and he goes into it easier, as a way to better protect himself. The only reason it happened here is because he was making a slew of mistakes, A) Taking his eyes off his opponent B) Underestimating his opponent C) Thinking Kagome can't handle herself mainly just because he's got this idea that she always needs his protection based on his fear of losing her again...oh look, I went into detail somewhat.


	15. Doldrums of a Hanyou

**Doldrums of a Hanyou**

Inuyasha twisted the rabbit's neck swiftly. Fear would sour the meat, so it had to be quick. Kagome had been asleep all afternoon, and if he was doing the cooking around here, he had a better shot of making food edible if he got better-tasting ingredients. Not that Kagome was keeping much down anyway. Kaede had left the pair with a type of gruel that should have been easy to digest, but Kagome's body rejected that too. She didn't seem to mind the tea, besides the taste, so a broth would have to do when it counts for getting nutrients into his wife's body.

He kept an ear out for his wife as looked around in the garden. She had made a fuss of forgetting to weed and soak it before they left, but the seedlings looked fine by his account, and there weren't too many weeds. There wasn't a single vegetable that would be ready to eat for a while yet.

Kaede had given him a few vegetables, but that still didn't help his cooking skills any. He carefully slid inside the house, slowly putting the screen down behind him, and searched through the jars. He had complained once or twice about the smell of the plants she kept, but he had only recently given thought to building her an herb shelter, like the one Kaede had. It only made sense. He knew Kagome would take the old woman's place when she finally kicked it, so she really should have one of her own. A stone mortar and pestle too. Not that the wooden set she had didn't do the job, but it reeked of weeks' worth of herbs, the smell having soaked into the wood.

Inuyasha held in a sneeze when he popped the lid off one of her jars. Nope. That was definitely not the right one. He opened jar after jar, his eyes watering from the smell of all the different herbs in one place, until he found a few he recognized as cooking herbs. She should really keep her medicinal herbs separate from her cooking ones or else she might accidentally...

He smacked his forehead when he replaced all the jars and looked at them lined up. The jars were clearly marked with what was edible and what was not—a stripe of iron oxide under the glaze of the ones used for medicine. The three brown ones he held were void of this stripe, and now that he looked, the others were all a little different. No two glaze patterns looked exactly the same on any of the jars. He picked up one and examined it. This glaze was nice, little black flecks dappling the brown color. Tried to remember where they had gotten these. Weren't they expensive? Probably not. The glaze was good, but he could feel the lumps and ridges where an inexperienced potter's hand had pinched the lip of the jar. Not that he knew much about pottery.

He set the one jar down, and brought the three he selected over to where Kagome kept her kitchen knife. He stopped himself before he started, for once remembering how Kagome scolded him whenever he started to butcher his catch in the house. He returned with his catch butchered and set a pan on to precook the rabbit. He cut up the herbs and vegetables, then put the bones to soak into a pot of water for a while. He wasn't entirely sure he was doing this right, but he had loitered around Sango at mealtimes enough to know it was something similar that she did. He finished with the rabbit, and set everything out to boil for a while.

He took one look over Kagome—still asleep despite the racket he'd started making with the pot. He didn't like the look of the sheen on her neck and brow. Kaede had told him to keep her warm—to sweat the toxins out or something—but Kagome looked about ready to burn a hole through her clothes. He took a deep breath as he scooped up a bucket and ran to the river. Kagome would have to drink another dose of that helpful—foul-smelling—tea later tonight.

He scrubbed the last of the rabbit blood off his hands and returned to his wife's side. She looked calm, but the smell of sickness had thickened around her. He smoothed her hair back and placed his hand on her forehead. She whimpered as she cracked open her eyes.

"Just checking your fever," he told her as he pulled his hand away, "go back to sleep." Her eyes drifted back closed and Inuyasha sighed. He gently smoothed down her hair again before shaking his head. He was treating her like a child, he knew he was. Honestly, how else was he supposed to treat her? She was sick, so she needed to be looked after whether or not she was a grown woman. Her fever didn't seem any better. At least she wasn't getting any fever-dreams, yet. The last time he came down with something—which seemed to be every year now that he was spending more time around humans—he had terrible nightmares.

Although, given thought, most of the images his unconscious mind created _were_ nightmares. He never liked dreaming, much. He had heard that dreams were supposed to give you a break from reality, but his always seemed to twist the imagery from his waking hours, only serving as a reminder of what lie before his opened eyes. When he was a child they reminded him of what he was running from, what foul beasts had the desire to taste hanyou flesh. As he matured, the dreams grew more terrible—in a way. His heart had been torn out again—replaced by an arrow—his claws had invaded the flesh of the one who held his heart, her eyes pleading as the color drained from her—the world was black-and-white, leaching the color even from her green clothes. His brother stood atop a high tower, and looked down upon him—even his cold eyes showing pity.

He could remember one good dream he had; Kagome was climbing down a tree, smiling at him as she set foot on the ground. She ran past, insisting he chase her—and he did. She flopped down on the shrine steps and tossed him a ball. He didn't want to play, so he set it down and sat beside her. She was talking about her classes, and it didn't make any sense to him. She held his hand and brought it to her heart, and everything was good.

He remembered how violently he had awoken, to find Kagome was not beside him. He roared. He punched and kicked at trees, then hung his head and moaned into the wood of the well. She wasn't coming back, he determined. She was never coming back and his mind wanted to torture him with false images. She had been gone nine months, and she was never coming back. What use was it to wait for her? It was two days later that he returned to the well. The snow was falling thickly and the skies were grey, but there was hope still left in the world. Maybe he was buzzed off the celebratory liquor his friend had forced on him. He thought maybe, just maybe, he should keep his chin up. His friends' two daughters weren't even a day old, and with them held the promise of a new life for Sango and Miroku. He was going to be somewhat of an uncle to them, so why not focus on that? He smiled and sat with his back to the well. He would wait on this side for her, but the few centuries separating them wasn't a terribly long time for a half-demon? Was it?

He was distracted from those memories by the sound of the pot lid bubbling up. He ran over to it, lifting the lid and blowing down the foam. Was it supposed to foam up? He shook his head and set the lid back on. It smelled…like it was cooking, at the very least. Not exactly appetizing though. He cringed. Even if it tasted bad, it would still be chock full of helpful ingredients nevertheless. He looked over to Kagome, still sleeping soundly. He sighed. It wasn't like there was a lot to do here. He didn't want to get too far away from the house, so he couldn't even make his morning rounds about the forest. He just sat against the wall and watched over Kagome. She slept a lot. Sometimes she would wake up for a few minutes, but today that resulted in her grabbing the bucket he had set near her. He made her drink water and go back to sleep.

His knee bounced as he looked about the small hut. Normally he would nap when he was as bored as he was, but he just wasn't tired right now. He should have asked Kaede to watch Kagome while he found something to do. It wasn't good for him to be cooped up. He got antsy.

He growled to himself and scratched his head. Now that wasn't right. Kagome had been cooped up for a day and a half—same as him—and she didn't even have the option of leaving when she was tired of being sick. That wouldn't be fair to her for him to just leave and find something else to do. He leaned back and stared up at the rafters overhead. He traced patterns on the beams before his eyes wondered over to the open window. He raised a curious brow at the dust particles drifting in the beams of light. He could try cleaning. Then again, doing that could stir up more dust, and that wouldn't be good for his wife.

The clink of metal caught his attention again—the pot bubbling once more. He turned his head towards it to find Kagome standing over the pot looking inside to see what her husband had made. He jumped up and ran over to the pot, snatching the lid from her.

"You're supposed to be in bed."

He straightened up when she sent him a glare. She had been sleeping all day, how the hell was she still cranky? She sighed through her nose and engaged her husband in a scowling match for another three seconds before she gave up and meandered back to the bedding. His ears lowered a bit when she slowly lowered herself back down. She had mentioned back and leg pain a few hours ago, and it seemed to have gotten worse.

He huffed, staring into the boiling pot. He smashed a carrot against the side of the pot before nodding. The vegetables were nice and soft. They should be easier to digest, so he could add a few to her bowl. The rabbit had already been cooked as well, so no worries about her eating undercooked meat should she keep down the initial broth.

"When is that going to be done?" he heard her ask softly. He glanced over at her. She still frowned, but she looked more tired now, despite all that she had been sleeping.

"It's done now, are you hungry?"

"Not really," he returned with a shake of her head.

"Well, you've gotta eat somethin' either way."

He took out a bowl and sifted just the liquid into it. He handed the bowl down to her and turned back to replace the lid, only to hear her cough. He nearly groaned, thinking that now she had another new symptom popping up. When he looked back at her, she wore a grimace as she stared down into the bowl. He let out an annoyed growl.

"Inuyasha..? Did you…did you, um...?"

"What?" he squawked back to her.

Kagome licked her lips, looked up at his annoyed expression, then shifted her gaze back down to the bowl she held.

"Did you put mint in this?"

Inuyasha put a hand on his hip.

"It's s'posed to settle your stomach, ain't it?"

"Well yes, but…you're not really supposed to make it with soups…"

Inuyasha flinched. Like he was supposed to know that?

"Well _sorry_ for not knowing that. Geez, you know I don't cook." He folded his arms over his chest. "Just eat it, it's good for you."

Her eyebrows shot up as she stared at him, and in the most serious voice possible, asked him if he had tasted it. He felt a chill run down the back of his neck at the question. He stared back into the pot as a '_well, not yet_,' answered her. He had made more than enough for the two of them…and he _had_ planned on eating some with her, but now he wasn't sure he wanted to join her. He took a sniff—not that he couldn't smell it already—it didn't smell bad, but it also didn't really smell _good_ either. He swallowed and served himself up a bowl, only with more meat and vegetables. He sat down and looked down into his bowl. When he looked up, she was looking back at him with anticipation.

He shook his head and tipped the bowl up to taste it, only to be shocked by the temperature. He coughed and stuck his tongue out, fanning it with one hand. Of course he had forgotten to let it cool before serving. It wasn't like anyone had taught him these things.

"Be careful there," Kagome warned, belatedly. That was just great. Here he was, having burned off half his taste buds, and she was making a joke of it. Though as he looked at her, she didn't look the least bit amused. She was staring down into her bowl and she moved it around in her hand slightly. She had gotten his disinterested scowl down pretty well. He returned the scowl as he set down his own bowl. It was too hot to eat as of now. He stood to exchange the soup pot for Kagome's tea. As he sat back down, Kagome mumbled that she didn't feel well.

"Yeah, I know," he muttered in return. There wasn't a lot he could do to make her feel any better.

"No, I mean, I'm really not feeling well. I'm a grown woman, I should be able to handle a stomach bug," she started, looking back to Inuyasha. "And if I'm handling it like this, I can't imagine how those two little girls are feeling."

Inuyasha grimaced.

"I'm not leaving you alone for a second," he declared.

"Inuyasha, please. I'll be asleep probably the entire time you're gone. Just tell me how they are, for my peace of mind?"

Inuyasha sighed. Okay, so now that she brought it up, he was kind of worried about those little kids too.

"Fine, fine, but if you set one foot out of bed, you're going to be puttin' up with me non-stop until you're completely well again."

* * *

Miroku's movements were slower than usual. He had managed to set something on for dinner, and the girls had managed it well, but he hadn't. He had finally gotten around to cleaning out the bowls, but by now, the leftover food had solidified about like hard clay. He scraped the food off about half a bowl, then sighed in annoyance. He turned back to look over his daughters. They had kicked the covers off themselves again. He let them be for now, since the temperature was still mild this time of year.

Their fevers had finally gone down in the last two days, but unfortunately for him, that was when his own started. Occupational hazard—being a father. Of course, having to care for two sick little girls hadn't exactly made him feel any better. When they weren't sleeping, they fluctuated between looking like zombies and crying because their bellies, legs or heads hurt. For every bit he loved his daughters, their high-pitched voices gave him a headache that lasted even though their quiet periods. He was so exhausted, he didn't even notice the knock on the door.

"Hey, Miroku," his white-haired friend addressed him as he slid open the door. Miroku immediately shushed Inuyasha, drawing his gaze over to the sleeping girls. Inuyasha nodded and shut the door behind him.

"How are they?" Inuyasha whispered. "Kagome kept nagging me to come check up on you guys."

Miroku sighed and went back to washing the bowls.

"They're a lot better than they were yesterday, but it will probably be a few days yet before they recover."

"Right." Inuyasha came to sit across the way, glancing around the room. He looked down to the bowls Miroku was trying to clean and only counted three.

"Where's Sango?"

Miroku had sent Sango and Ichiro to stay with Kaede a few days ago. Ichiro was very small, and he wouldn't chance him falling ill. Every fall, when illness within the village was at its peak, there was always a chance for casualties, especially with infants. Inuyasha agreed that that was the smartest move, but then he made comment that the monk, himself, had fallen ill.

"If it runs its course the same as with the girls, my fever will break by tomorrow," he commented forcing his voice to sound a little sicklier than was really necessary. Inuyasha frowned. He looked back at the door, his only means of escape from the dull world of sick people. His ears were twitching with the scraping sound Miroku was making with the bowls. He should really return to Kagome, and tell her the good news; everyone was just as sick and boring, but they were alive so…

That damn scraping noise… Inuyasha grit his teeth and glared over at his friend, trying to will the noise to stop. He could easily leave and the noise would stop. Yeah, he'd say 'bye, see you around, I got my own sick person to take care of.'

"That fucking noise is making me crazy!" He said, snatching the bowl away from the monk. Inuyasha chipped the few remaining specks of food off and set it aside for proper washing.

"Get in bed you helpless loser, I'll wash your damn dishes."

"Really Inuyasha? Why thank you, I am in your debt," he joked, with only slightly less energy than he usually would. Of course the skeezball was plotting to get out of this…well, he did already look half-dead, but…

"You're racking up quite the tab." Inuyasha snapped his fingers and pointed to the futon his friend hadn't even bothered putting away all that day. He watched his friend crawl into bed, careful of disturbing his sleeping toddlers.

"Oh, and I haven't washed the pot yet, either."

* * *

Inuyasha stirred the pot's contents, then looked back at his wife.

"You did eat some more."

"It's not really that bad once you get a few bites of meat in with it," Kagome said with a shrug. He raised a brow at that. Poor girl probably could taste anything anymore. He could barely stomach it, and he had eaten some pretty unsavory things. Maybe he'd ask for her to instruct him for breakfast, so that he might stand a chance of cooking a proper—palatable—meal.

Wait a minute.

"You held it down?"

Kagome nodded.

"That's…well don't eat too much, don't wanna tempt fate." Maybe the flavor had changed since it had time to cool? He grabbed the cooking spoon and ladled a bit out to taste. He was surprised that it actually it wasn't bad for leftovers. It definitely tasted a bit gamier and more like the rabbit than the random spices he'd dumped in there. It wasn't as good as Kagome's cooking, but he served himself a second helping. He sat down to it, but he saw Kagome staring at the window. He glanced over there to notice it was still closed…

"Kagome? You alright there?"

She nodded, but he hesitantly set his bowl off to the side and crawled over to her. She raised a brow when he put a hand over her forehead, worried the fever was messing with her brain functions. Actually, her fever seemed a lot better than it had been. He put his other hand over his own forehead to compare. He felt her head with the back of his hand too. She was still a little warmer than himself, but her fever was definitely down from where it was. She was getting over this a lot faster than what Miroku had guessed! Maybe he'd stumbled onto a miracle cure with that mint-rabbit soup. He chuckled at the thought. _That _was doubtful.

* * *

...

* * *

Ah, the bored life of a hanyou. This is a little change of pace, yet again. Inuyasha, bored out of his wits. Also I have a passion for pottery, though I've never actually used a wheel, I've only ever hand-worked teapots, cups and jars. If anyone wants to know what illness they all have, beats me. All I know is that my entire family came down with this a few years ago, over the course of two months we each had our week being sick.


	16. Feeling a Little Better

**Feeling a Little Better**

The pretty young Miko was recovering well, despite her _**darling**_ husband's nattering over her. She had convinced him to leave the house again today, so that he could check up on their friend, the monk, who seemed to be fairing worse than Kagome. His two daughters were finally placed back with their mother, and Miroku only now got the chance to rest. Kagome had instructed Inuyasha on how to make a stew—which he had successfully made for her two nights in a row—and he was going to make one for the holy man as well, so that he would not have to cook over the hot stove. What effect would that have on his fever?

In the meanwhile, Kagome was using her husband's absence as time to get fresh air. The hanyou man meant well, but this past few days he wouldn't so much as let her stand up from the bed. More than once he chastised her for leaving it, when she merely needed to void her bladder.

Kagome watched the screen flap shut behind her husband. She took a deep breath and waited for him to exit from her sensing range—what she knew was a little further than his earshot—and slipped out of bed. She threw on her hakama over her kosode, grabbed a towel, a bucket, and marched down to the river. While all outward symptoms of her illness had vanished in the last day or so, she felt gross. She was covered in dried sweat from the days she had her fever, and Inuyasha had not once allowed her to bathe! She could still feel the dirt from the road on her if she tried hard enough. So gross.

The water was just as cold as it had been in the midst of July—and she imagined it would only be getting colder—she shivered when she stuck her toes in. She made quick work of washing, sitting on a flat stone just out of the shallow water. She scrubbed furiously and dumped one last bucket of cold water over herself before drying and redressing. She ran back into the house to sit beside the fire to warm herself again, this time in her blue and white yukata. She considered crawling back into bed, but the thought of how long she had been in bed the past week drew her away from that option. She eyed the bedding, then looked to the door, where early morning light was still filtering in. She had wanted just a quick bath—just before Inuyasha came back home, but…well, was he really the boss of her?

She nodded with her decision. As soon as her hair was half dry she stripped the bedding and ran it all out to her garden, where the light would be good for airing it out. She piled it over her fence and went back inside for the covers. She decided that since she was washing her kosode, she may as well do the rest of the laundry too. Though as she stepped inside, she realized she couldn't very well bring freshly washed articles into a dirty house. Her husband had made an attempt to clean up the place—very much appreciated—but he missed a few tasks. Not too much, she only spent a few minute tidying up before she ran back out with the laundry.

She made sure to scrub her kosode thoroughly, while wondering where she could get ahold of some soap in this era. She had a tiny bit of bar soap, but she only planned on using that if she ever ended up covered in something particularly smelly. The soap didn't have much of a smell, and Inuyasha said that using it was acceptable. She remembered the incident Inuyasha had come to get her while she was helping her mother clean the bathroom. He had gotten so woozy from the smell of bleach he was actually having trouble breathing, he needed to be dragged outside by gramps and Sota. If there's one way to kill a demon with a sensitive nose, it was cleaning products.

Truth be told, she did remember—vaguely—a recipe for homemade soap. She would have to at least give it a shot if she couldn't find any soap, or if it was too expensive. She started humming at some point as she wrung out her kosode and moved on to the towel she had used to bathe earlier. It felt so nice to be productive again. She would definitely be going back to Kaede's tomorrow, no husband of hers was going to prevent it! And how could he stand just sitting around taking care of her? Sure, he got to visit Miroku for periods of time (always at her insistence) but there was no way he found the whole situation entertaining. At the same time…he was so endearing. He had watched over her in the past when she was ill. She knew he had that gentle caring side to him, but that didn't make it any less sweet that he continued to be that way with her. He would never admit to that caring side of himself, but he would make a wonderful father.

She was so lost in her thoughts and the sound of her humming that she nearly missed the aura of the demonic man stomping through the woods behind her.

"Wha the hell're you doin' outta the house?"

Was he angry? His enunciation always fell to pieces when he was mad…until he got the point where he pronounced _everything_ properly, and that made any man with a brain shake in his sandals. Kagome sighed and turned back to him, a soft smile on her lips. His lips twitched as he huffed through his nose. He sounded like an elderly dog when he did that. Did he know?

"You're sick, you don't need to be out here."

"I'm fine," she returned, "I have been feeling fine since yesterday, Inuyasha."

She turned back to squeeze the water out of the last wash as he argued that he could still smell sickness on her…until he took a good sniff.

"It was probably the bedding you were smelling, Inuyasha. I've left it out in the sun to kill the bacteria. I was sick for a while, so of course the smell sunk in, but—" she stood and gathered all the wet laundry, "I'm much better now."

She turned to him with her laundry basket balanced on one hip. She told him to help her string the laundry as she pushed the basket into his chest. He tried to protest, the laundry or her sickness she couldn't be sure, but she let go of the basket, forcing him to catch it as she sauntered off towards the house. He squinted in annoyance, but reluctantly followed the woman.

He tied the line up and Kagome lifted her arms, only to be met with the brush of a cold wet something-or-other against her neck.

"You are better," he muttered, mostly to himself, drawing his face away from her neck. She gave him an 'Mn-hm,' and reached for the next bit of wet cloth.

"And you bathed? Kagome, that river is freezing, you'd make yourself sick all over again," he admonished, though his words held no real bite to them. He lifted another piece of wet laundry to hang as he quietly accepted her admittance of good health.

Inuyasha patted the bedding down a bit as Kagome got lunch started. The bedding had gotten a little matted down with someone laying on it for the last few days straight. He checked the garden again. Yeah, a few weeds had sprouted, but still nothing to harvest—how long did these damn vegetables need to grow? Miroku said they'd get a _few_ yields before winter, but not at the snail's pace these were growing.

* * *

As soon as the food was ready, his nose led him back into the house. He licked his lips as he spied the side dish Kagome had set behind her as she looked over the rest. He rarely admitted it, but Kagome was…she wasn't a half-bad cook…and a hell of a lot better than him, damn. However, as of yesterday he thought what he made was at least decent, though Kagome had instructed him every step of the way. He bypassed the chopsticks on his way to the bowls, drawing Kagome's eye. Quicker than he could expect it, a tiny hand snatched up his wrist and snapped his arm away from the bowls. Inuyasha whipped his head around to face a scowling Miko.

"No," she said firmly. "Your hands are _filthy_," she flipped his hand over to expose the dirt from the garden, "you know better than that." There was a long pause between the two of them before Kagome blinked. Ah, yes, the balance had shifted back into proper order. Inuyasha was no longer taking care of her like a child. Normality had returned with her scolding the grown hanyou man as if he were a child.

"Keh." Inuyasha chuckled as Kagome bit her lips to resist smiling. It hadn't taken but a few hours to get into the old routine. She released his hand to let him wash up while she finished serving lunch. They talked and relaxed for a few hours while waiting for the clothes to dry. Kagome wanted to return to work and her lessons the following day, and Inuyasha agreed. Kagome told him to go back out if he wanted, to make his rounds and get more fresh air, but he brushed it off. He would join her in the morning getting back to normal, since it felt weird to do start all that in the middle of the day.

Inuyasha helped Kagome take down the laundry and get it all folded. It wasn't particularly hot today, but the sun was shining brightly, and the clothes were warm as Kagome brought them down. She asked Inuyasha to put the laundry away while she took down their bedding, which should have had sufficient time to air out in the sun.

"It's so warm," Kagome commented as she entered the house with the bedding held against her body. She laid the bedding down and sat atop in, rubbing her hand down the still warm surface of it.

"Shouldn't you fold it up and put it away? I mean, unless you plan on using it now," he said with a shrug. It was just common practice to do so. Their hut wasn't tiny, but keeping the bedding up did open a lot of floor space. He watched Kagome rub her hand over the fabric again. If she was a little tired, she could use it if she wanted…

The sun's heat had dissipated from the cloth, but it reminded her that she had not felt the warmth on her husband's side of the bed in a while. He had been sleeping against the wall these past few nights…perhaps they should use it. She bit her bottom lip and rubbed her hand over the fabric a bit more.

"Inuyasha…" the pretty little Miko murmured as she looked over to where he was laying her Miko robes. He glanced up with the mention of his name, giving a slight 'hm?' in question. She looked back to the bedding, rubbing the fabric in circles. She looked back up to her husband, hoping her silent suggestion had reached him. The slight tilt of his head told her it hadn't. She bit her lip again. Pink dappled her cheeks as she glanced back down to the bedding.

"Inuyasha," she repeated, trying to make her voice _just_ suggestive enough.

"What?" Came the confused reply of her husband. She swallowed as her knees squeezed a bit without her permission. Her eyes caught his again before darting about the room.

"Lets…let's use the bed," she suggested.

"I didn't say you can't sleep if you're…" he trailed off, finally catching the meaning to her actions. His mouth nearly spread into a smile before he thought better of it.

"No," he told her bluntly l, before his expression changed into uncertainty. Maybe..."You were just sick yesterday."

Okay, he was not going to pull that one. She slowly rose to her feet, staring at his chin as she did so. She took the few steps towards him, and he obediently stayed in place. She rested her hands on his shoulders and her offered no resistance, like he had expected this the second he closed his mouth after speaking.

"I'm feeling a lot b-better," she started, trying to sound sultry, but stuttering on the last bit as her confidence faltered.

"I sure hope so," he uttered in a breathy whisper, followed by, "we just aired it out, are you sure we should get the bedding all—"

She cut off his last words with a rough kiss.

* * *

Inuyasha lay beside his wife as she breathed heavily against his chest. He stroked the skin of her arm and felt the gooseflesh finally smooth down as she started to get her breathing under control. She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes.

"So," he started. Her eyes opened up to the sound of his curious tone. "Does that always happen?"

Kagome blinked and lifted her head up.

"Does what happen?"

He rubbed his hand down her arm.

"You get goosebumps. Why does that happen?"

"Oh," she breathed as she let her head drop back to stare idly at the ceiling.

"Just an involuntary reaction…some people cry, some people's toes go numb…I guess I get goosebumps," she explained, mumbling the last part. She bit her lip at the thought. Indeed she did get goosebumps, and Inuyasha was getting surprisingly good at giving her those goosebumps. Was she a pervert for wanting more? They had only just come down a minute or so ago.

"Have you _always_ gotten goosebumps?"

Kagome giggled at the question. She turned her head to look at her beautiful husband. White hair strewn over his shoulder—sticking to his chest. His eyes looked so innocent in his question, despite the subject matter being anything but innocent. Her eyes strayed from his own in favor of his mouth. His lips healed faster than hers, but they still looked so kissable from her attention earlier. So she acted on the impulse, leaning over to press her lips against his. He reciprocated, but only just; tilting his chin to press against her.

"You would know, I've only had that happen with you," she chuckled when she pulled away from him. She saw his brows lower in confusion, and dropped her own brows with his expression.

"You've never, uh…I meant on your own too, before me."

"On my own..?" Her eyes opened wide in realization. "Oh no, I've never..! Not really, I mean, I—" she stumbled over her words.

A chill ran down his spine. He remembered the first time—well, not the first time, he was twelve and that obviously hadn't had anything to do with Kagome. That fucking breeze felt really nice, but just about anything set him off at that age. After that, and after he had first met Kagome, he didn't either. Then she was gone—he missed her—he felt like such a freak that he was even thinking about her like that. That he had dipped his hand into his hakama. That he was thinking about this girl he cared so much about—who admitted to loving him—whom he may very well never see again, and he was moving his hand to get off to images of her. Images he'd stored in the back of his mind from before he even had any interest in her. Wasn't that sick? He had told himself, that maybe, maybe she was doing the same? She had to be. That was the only way he could deal with it.

"What? N-nev-never?" Came his stuttered interruption.

Kagome squeaked.

"W-well, not 'never' never, but I've never—you know—finished…"

"S-so you could do _that_ but you couldn't, you didn't…how could you not finish?"

Kagome slapped her hands up to her face, shutting her eyes with her embarrassment. Inuyasha's ears flipped backwards at her shrill squeak. This was not what he had intended to happen from his simple question. He laid a hand on her wrist, moving it to the side to look at her face.

"Kagome?"

She opened one eye to look up at his nervous face. She gulped and lowered her hands to cover her chest. Inuyasha was really surprised to hear that she…so she did right? She tried to get there but..? Inuyasha almost—almost—felt relief wash over him.

"Don't make it sound like I'm stupid…I…my room was right next to mama's," she started, speaking embarrassedly and quickly. Sota only knocked about half the time. Grandpa snored so loudly it killed the mood at night. The cat had startled her by jumping onto her belly once. She was in so many extra clubs…to avoid thinking about how much she missed the boy she _tried_ fantasizing about. She barely had time to herself, and when she did, she was studying, or she just _thought_ she had free time, because something would interrupt her.

Inuyasha had tuned out after she mentioned her grandfather, but he got the gist. Living with the family might make things difficult, he realized. His heart was still pounding with the threat of guilt but…he also realized something. Something that further pushed down the guilt. It made him want to smirk and puff out his chest in pride. Her first orgasm had been at his hands…well, mouth, but still.

"The first time that happened was because of me," he muttered, interrupting her. Kagome blinked. She shut her mouth and looked over at her husband.

"You've never felt _that_ except with me," he repeated. He couldn't help the laugh in his tone. Kagome neglected to send her usual glare, forgoing it to gaze back up at the ceiling, swallowed down her embarrassment, and nodded. She wasn't expecting strong arms to wrap around her and draw her tightly against an equally strong chest, but she didn't fight it as her white-haired husband held her. Another guilty thought ran through his mind, making him hold her longer than he planned. He didn't even try to give her 'goosebumps' until their third time going at it. He had his moment in the night and in the morning, (and by her mouth) but there was nothing for her…damn, he was a selfish bastard. He'd try to make it up to her from now on. Now that he realized that. He looked down to her to tell her that, but something caught his eye.

She wondered why he kept holding her so tightly. She was almost starting to feel claustrophobic, and she knew she shouldn't. Since when had he been so lovey-dovey though?

"Inuyasha?" She tried to push away from him then, but his grip held. She repeated his name, and that got him to let go of her. She expected a smile when she looked at him, but instead she got a different look…confusion? Concern?

"How'd you get that bruise? Did I do that?"

When she asked what he was talking about, he directed her attention to her collarbone, near her shoulder. Kagome sighed in relief. There was indeed a reddish bruise. A thin oblong mark marred her skin from where her husband had spent a lot of time kissing and sucking her skin.

'_He should have known, of course I'd get a hickey!_'

Kagome smiled at him just as he brushed his thumb over her breast. This one was staring to turn a purple color.

"Shit, you've got another one."

"It's just a kiss mark, Inuyasha."

His ears twitched at her words. _This_ ugly thing on her skin was a kiss mark? He'd never actually seen one before, but from their description, he'd thought they'd be…cuter perhaps. It was just a little bruise, and it was quickly changing colors. It looked painful. He asked about it, and she pressed her fingers against her collarbone to confirm that there wasn't a bit of pain.

"Nothin'?" he asked as he brushed his own knuckle over the mark on her breast.

"Nope, and it will heal in a few days, too," she said, ending with a giggle.

"Why're you laughing?"

"It's funny…you know, it's kind of like these marks are to show I'm yours. They'll stay for a while, and anyone who might see it will know I have a husband…who kisses me a lot."

Well, he didn't know about all that. A wife could be bruised in other ways, and he knew some men left terrible marks on their wives. He nearly cringed at the thought. He'd like to beat the shit out of men like that. He drew his eyes back over mark on her collarbone. This mark, however, looked different from most bruises. This was a mark made by someone who loved their partner.

"b-but don't—" Her stuttering drew his attention back to her face, "try not to leave hickeys where anyone can see them. It's still embarrassing, to—to have anyone see."

Inuyasha scoffed.

"I get it. I don't tell the letch nothin' about us, though the guy prods like a sonuva—" he cut off before his mouth got him in trouble. "And I'll try…" he licked his lips, "to keep…" he drew his tongue over her shoulder, "kisses…" he kissed her shoulder, "below the neck."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and suddenly he was laying on his back. His lovely young wife popped up to straddle his lap, where he had already started—

"I won't," she declared, "I can barely leave any marks on you." Her smile was soft. He leaned up on his elbows, and she leaned down to meet him halfway. She kissed him, and rubbed down his chest. She left a smile on his lips when she broke away to kiss his collarbone. Her kisses were gentle though, not the kind he expected after all this talk of hickeys. Her fingertips brushed down along his belly, tracing the muscles through the skin. They gently pushed through the fine hairs leading down below his navel. Lower, and he took a deep breath. She smiled and caught his eyes when she gripped around him ever-so-gently. His eyes widened marginally as she lowered her body, to kiss his belly, his hip. She held his eyes even as he whispered her name in question. She smiled for his answer.

"O-okay," he muttered, easing his upper body back down and letting his head drop.

* * *

...

* * *

Hickeys are fun, aren't they? Also this is one of the so far two I've got set up to publish while I'm in my first quarter away from home. I'm trying to get up to chapter 20 written by September 24th (with today being the 11th), but I'm stuck somewhere on chapter 18, so I'm going to try and power my way through.

Also, look at my chapter titles for a clue to the content of each. This is how you know which chapters to aim for, or skip past depending on how you feel about smut.


	17. Sick as a Dog

**Sick as a Dog**

Inuyasha knew something was wrong when he woke that morning to the smell of food, and…he felt the lightest touch of something over his left eyebrow. Now his right. He felt a soft line drawn down his cheekbone, down to trace his jaw to his chin. He was struggling for consciousness—but not too hard. The touch lifted back to his forehead, and slid slowly, slowly down his profile—brow, nose, top lip—until it came to rest on his bottom lip. The touch stayed there, and the pressure increased minutely; just enough to part his lips. His eyes fluttered open just in time to catch his wife's blushing face before she skittered across the room to where she had been preparing breakfast.

He turned his white head towards her. He felt a warmth settle in his belly when he raised his fingertips to his lips, where hers had just been. He dropped his hand and raised to one elbow to correct the sideways view of his wife. She was piling some food into two bowls now. One of the bowls had considerably more food, he noticed. He wondered if she had her appetite back yet, since she was giving herself so little. Wait, she had just gotten over an illness, what was she doing making breakfast? He frowned and sat up fully. What was she even doing up this early? She had already opened the windows, and by the looks of the sunlight coming in the one, it was well past dawn…

What was _he_ doing getting up so _late_?

He almost continued that thought, when Kagome bent slightly to collect a cup, and he got a good look at her legs. The hem of the short kosode was just high enough to expose two violet marks above the tiny Miko's knee. With that image, any other concerns of his were replaced by his attempt to manage the grin that was appearing on his face. She had told him that the kiss marks were painless, and so, there wasn't really any harm in leaving them on her skin. He had used her left leg, then, as a visual tally for himself. He left one little mark on the soft flesh of her inner thigh for every time he had…given her goosebumps…after he noticed the accidental mark to her breast. Just the two were visible, but many more were concealed by the length of the garment. He may still need practice getting the hang of the full act, but certainly, with this particular operation he seemed to be a natural.

He must not have gotten his face under control, because Kagome immediately tugged the hem of her clothes down after she set down his food. He flushed and tried to look away from her, to give her some peace, but she just looked so adorable with her bottom lip held between her teeth.

* * *

He had been distracted for a moment, but it didn't take long for him to realize what the problem was. Kagome had told him she was adamant about resuming her training with Kaede. It had been much too long a break she took, what with the job and illness. Why did she act like he was actually going to forbid her from going? Truth be told, he preferred it when they were both working, so they could actually enjoy the hours they spent together. She had been gradually taking on more responsibilities in the village, including her first funeral for an elderly man who passed just before the trip. He would wonder around the forest for a bit, checking up on any demons or predatory animals that had wondered into his domain. Why would he keep her around another day? He would just have to take care of her again, and that meant that neither of them could do their jobs.

He jumped onto a tall branch when he smelled a pair of unfamiliar dogs around somewhere. He nearly fell from his perch the moment he landed, suddenly lightheaded. He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. That certainly wasn't normal. He blinked open his eyes and searched around, spotting the two dogs below. He dropped down, startling the animals for a brief second, before he himself grunted from the landing. His stomach lurched uncomfortably.

'_Well shit_.'

He shook it off with the sound of the two dogs attempting to stand their ground with half-frightened snarls. The dog hanyou bared his own fangs right back, growling louder than the two combined. With one snap of his teeth, the dogs were off like a shot, sprinting in the opposite direction of the village. Inuyasha placed a hand on his belly before continuing on his way through the village. The village dogs were well-behaved, but the mongrels that came down from the mountains were known to bite onto cattle or kill chickens. Inuyasha was responsible for the protection of the livestock in the village too.

There were actually quite a few nuisance animals that had wondered into Inuyasha's forest. It made sense. All-in-all he hadn't made any rounds in over a week, so there was plenty of shooing to be done. Usually a snarl or a snap got the animals running scared, but sometimes he picked up a stone, and flung it at the vermin's nose. It was one such incident with another dog that sent it yelping away. Inuyasha cringed at the sound, trying to forget it before his head began to pound. He figured illness was a big possibility, considering how close he kept in contact with Kagome while she was sick. He slept against the wall, and used a separate spoon for dishing her meals, but he couldn't help feeling her forehead or stroking her arms when she was kicking the covers off. He had a better tolerance for illness than humans might, but he had still been in a lot of direct contact with sick people as of late. Whenever he did get sick, he never let on how he was actually feeling. Any demon with a working nose would be able to smell sickness on him, but he refused to show that kind of weakness before humans.

His stop at the monk's house was brief, barely enough time to set a stew on and get out. Miroku had been awfully talkative yesterday, and the hanyou just had no interest in long conversations today. Not that he could blame the guy. He'd been cooped up in toddler jail for a week, and now Inuyasha was the only one he had to talk to. He imagined his friend was getting rather lonely without being able to leave the house for long. In a short conversation with Sango upon returning the twins, she missed her husband as well, so it was a lousy situation for everyone involved.

He swallowed when his mouth began to water and his stomach started to twist. He took a deep breath and willed away the urge to toss his breakfast. This illness was coming on quick. The only good thing about it was that it also meant it would be over quickly. A day or two, and he would be fine. He cringed at the pretty blue of the sky. It had better only be one day.

* * *

Kagome yawned loudly as she walked beside her husband. She had stayed later than she planned, Kaede having sent her to clean up the old shrine thoroughly today. Normally, Kaede didn't maintain it as well as she'd like, with the condition of her back in recent years. However, with the young back and a strong set of legs that Kagome had; Kaede had no trouble sending the younger woman up to sweep and dig up moss around the zillion or so steps there were…not that Kagome was complaining. Sometimes grandpa Higurashi had Kagome and Sota help out around their shrine, so Kagome knew this was the general maintenance that came with the job description. Shrine owners or Miko. She'd take this over high school any day.

"Hey, Inuyasha, how about grilled fish for dinner tonight?" The rabbit population must have been taking a dive, since that was all her husband had been catching for the last week. Not to mention you can only eat variants of rabbit stew so many nights in a row before you were completely sick of it. She saw the corners of his mouth twitch down further than usual at the suggestion.

"Okay, so what do you want to eat then?" She silently begged him not to say rabbit. Anything but rabbit.

Inuyasha frowned again.

"I'm fine with fish."

Kagome eyed him suspiciously, but said nothing.

Later that night, she noted that he only ate half the fish he usually did (which was still more than she ate). She made light conversation about his day, and nothing seemed unusual about him then. More problem animals had wondered into the forest than usual, including a pack of dogs. He had spent a good portion of the day tracking down and shooing those little annoyances away.

No demons though, so his last warning given to the snake demon he threw out had spread by word of mouth to any others that might consider the trip into the forest. Only a handful of demons had purposely come into the forest meaning challenge Inuyasha, stake their claim and eat the villagers. Inuyasha made sure not a one laid a finger on the humans who lived near. The last being the snake brothers. He remembered the tussle with the snake, it had frightened the entire village, and it was actually Sango who finished off the elder brother, but Inuyasha had given the younger an order to scram, taking word with him of the powerful demon that had offed his brother.

* * *

Kagome was awoken by Inuyasha's movement in his sleep, an odd occurrence. She leaned up to look at him when a barely audible whimper rang in her ears. Maybe he was too hot? He mostly slept fully dressed, and with the covers on top of him…she pulled the covers off of her sleeping husband, and watched his face twitch for a few seconds. His eyes came open with a huff of breath. Kagome blinked. She asked if there was anything wrong, and he confirmed her suspicions, relaying that he was way too hot.

"Then take your coat off," she suggested. His compliance without a trace of dismissal was out of character for him as he stripped out of the outer garment and tossed it to the side. He laid back down on top of the covers, and they both went back to sleep.

Kagome was mildly annoyed to find her husband sleeping back up against the wall as he had done her entire illness. She took a closer look, realizing that he had taken off his hakama at some point, and she relaxed a bit. He got overheated? Odd. She wondered…maybe he was getting sick too? He made a point of saying "demons don't get sick" whenever she asked him to be more careful, or take better care of himself. She had always pursed her lips and thought '_well yeah, but you're half human too_.'

She woke him for breakfast, and left soon after, asking him to clean up since it was already a late start to the day.

Inuyasha grumbled bit, as was usual. He stared into his bowl and pushed the food around a bit, but he did not feel like eating it. He was angry with his body already. He had been feeling terrible from the moment he woke. He was hoping the recover overnight, and was disappointed when he didn't. He forced down what was left of his breakfast after twenty minutes of giving the food funny looks. He kept swallowing down the watering of his mouth as he washed out the dishes as his stomach flopped around uncomfortably.

He wondered out into the woods, looking to resume his normal routine, but just the same as yesterday, after running around and moving through trees for a bit, he moved a little too quickly. His head swam and he lost his balance. Only this time he did fall out of the tree and directly into the sticker bushes below. He groaned as he lay there, thorns scratching his face should he dare move. His head began to throb, probably having hit it on the trunk on the way down. So he just lay there, defeated.

"Was this how Kagome was feeling?"

He took deep breaths before opening his eyes and staring up into the bushes surrounding him. It was a nasty feeling, that was for sure. He wasn't certain how long he stayed there, but when he finally decided to remove himself from the damned thorns, the temperature had risen to an uncomfortable level. Normally the fabric of the Firerat kept some of the heat off him so it was a bizarre feeling to be sweating under it. Unless he had a fever. Did he have a fever? He couldn't tell just by placing a hand on his head, since his palms were sweaty as well.

"Dammit. Why'd I have to get sick now of all times?" He growled. He could already feel his strength waning, even more with the illness than was usual for this time of the month. If only he hadn't gone out of his way to take care of Kagome and Miroku.

Miroku. Damn, he'd forgotten all about the guy. He was supposed to be over keeping him company. Well, he supposed the monk would be feeling well enough to cook for himself today, so it wouldn't matter if he was feeling a little lonely. He'd be up and teaching the village kids kanji soon enough.

Inuyasha rolled himself to the side of a tree, propping his back against it to remove his suikan. It was better now, but he still felt overheated. He decided to crawl back into the house and take a nap on the cool hardwood floors. If anyone came knocking, he'd hear them in time to look alert, he was certain.

* * *

He felt like he was underwater—in the ocean—getting tossed around by the waves. No, that wasn't right. The ocean would be cool, and all around him, not like the warmth he felt pressed to his upper arms. Restricting. Something had him. Something had latched onto him and was dragging him off while he slept. He struggled against the grasp, but opened his eyes at a loud squeak...that sounded something like a surprised kitten.

His eyes darted around his surroundings only to find himself back in his house, staring into the confused eyes of his wife. He looked back down to himself, finding that he had been partially dragged onto their bedding, presumably by his wife. He felt tugging at his hands, and he realized he had both of his wife's wrists locked in a tight grip. The second he released her wrist, her hand came up to his face to stroke away the hair sticking to his forehead.

"Inuyasha, you're burning up. How long have you been sick?"

Inuyasha grunted and moved himself the rest of the way onto the bed, figuring there was no point trying to deny the illness. Kagome turned to the side to dip a cloth in cool water. He swatted at her hand when she tried to press the damp cloth against his forehead.

"I don't need all that. I ain't gonna die," he said gruffly.

Kagome pursed her lips and dropped the cloth back into the water.

"How long have you been sick?" she repeated.

Inuyasha said nothing and closed his eyes. He heard Kagome's annoyed sigh, but he pretended not to. He did, however, open his eyes to the rustling of fabric, to look out to see the covers dropping over his body.

"Hey, no, I'm already hot, don't do that," he growled and flipped the blankets back. He glared over to Kagome, only to be met with an even more intense glare.

"I'm just trying to help, okay?" She sighed and dropped the glare. "I got you sick, so I just want you to get better as soon as possible."

Inuyasha scoffed.

"Eh, I get it. If it weren't for the damn moon, I would've been fine by now…and…" he suddenly took a glance out the window. It was already early evening—just before dark. Of course it was! Of course he slept the entire day away like a lazy hog! Isn't that how his luck usually worked out?!

His thoughts were interrupted by a blurted apology from his wife. If she had known he could catch it so readily—with the new moon coming up—she wouldn't have expected Inuyasha to take care of her.

"Ah, damn, don't blame yourself for that," he returned, sitting up abruptly.

"You're being stu—" he cut off as he realized he jerked around too fast. Quicker than Kagome could follow, Inuyasha got up and sprinted for the door. Kagome followed quickly, making it outside as gagging noises reached her ears. Inuyasha was vaguely aware of the soothing hand rubbing down his back in-between retches.

"You're alright, you're alright," Kagome soothed as she crouched down next to him. She collected all his hair in her free hand as another wave came and he emptied the last of his mostly-digested stomach contents. The snarl that followed the last of the heaves didn't surprise Kagome in the least. She knew her strong, gruff husband hated to show signs of weakness, and vomiting right in front of their house must have really hurt him.

"Ugh, Let go'wa me!" He forced himself away from her and stumbled in the direction of the forest. Kagome called after him as she followed cautiously. She demanded he return to the relative comfort of their home, but he wasn't hearing a word of it.

"Inuyasha! Dammit, come back here!" she shouted in frustration, "OSUWA—" She slapped her hands over her mouth. She had almost said it! What a cruel thing to do to a sick man! She could barely see a thing in the forest as the sun dipped below the horizon, but she heard the crunch of forest debris and went flying in that direction. There, slumped against a boulder was her now human husband. She hurried over to him to find the man conscious, but just barely. He must have had a bit of a dizzy spell from marching off like that.

She sighed as she helped him to his feet. Even when he was well, he always overdid himself on these moonless nights. From what she could see of his face, he was completely out of it, but he could walk, so that was good. She wrapped a hand around his waist, threw his arm over her shoulders and started walking towards the house. As they neared the doorstep, Inuyasha came fully back to his senses, and shrugged out of Kagome's hold.

"Don't touch me. I'm _fine_."

Kagome rolled her eyes, which annoyed her husband further. He started back in the direction of the forest, stubbornly.

"Inuyasha! Where do you think you're going? You're really sick!"

"I'll be fine on my own, I don't need you treating me like some kid that can't take care of themselves," he grumbled.

Kagome grit her teeth. What did he just say? He did _not_ just…she ran ahead of him, spinning to face him and stand in his way. She jabbed a finger into his chest.

"I've got a couple things to say to you. First, weren't _you_ the one treating _me_ like a sick kid not that long ago?" she waited for Inuyasha's frown and him trying to side-step her, "And another thing. What's this 'I can take care of myself' crap, huh? Wasn't it _you_ who said you were glad _I_ was around on the new moon? When was that? Two months ago?" she waved her hands slightly. "I just picked you up off the ground! Tell me you're fine! Tell me again how _fine_ you are."

Inuyasha didn't say a word, but he squinted his eyes once, and tried again to step around her. With a growl of frustration, Kagome dipped forward…and hefted her idiot husband off the ground. With her arms around his chest and hips, she made sure not to put any pressure on his belly. He was shocked as she stumbled the few meters into the house and dropped him off at the edge of the raised floor. Kagome tried not to show the strain in her voice as she gave the next order. He was heavier than she expected.

"You," she took a deep breath, "are going to lay on that bed and wait patiently while I make you something to eat, are we clear?"

Inuyasha's eyebrows drew together and he opened his mouth to protest, but his _**adoring**_ wife cut him off.

"I swear to every god known to man I will tie you up and make you lay still if I have to." It wasn't a threat. It was a promise.

With a growl, Inuyasha crawled back to the bed and flopped down with a glare aimed at the tiny young woman across him. She nodded approvingly and went about setting some tea on. Several minutes passed before he muttered something again.

"I'm fine, you know."

Kagome let out an exasperated sigh.

"Oh, would you quit that? Everyone gets sick, it's nothing to be ashamed of," she said with an indignant frown directed towards the wall. He tipped his head up to glare at her from the corner of his eye.

"Who tha hell said I felt ashamed? I ain't ashamed of nothin'," he spat back. Kagome took a deep breath. She was trying to cut him some slack. She did _not_ want to argue with him anymore, especially when he was being as stubborn as he was about being in a weaker state. He seemed like he was going to test her patience if he kept on with that attitude though. Then again, he had always had a bad attitude, especially when he wasn't feeling up to snuff. She would admit to being a little cranky herself when she got sick, so, '_I can handle this_,' she told herself. When the tea was ready, she poured a cup and took it over to him. Before she even made it over, he made it clear he wasn't going to drink something that smelled so foul.

"Drink it. You need something to settle your stomach so I can get some food in it."

"I ain't hungry."

"Inuyasha, you're going to eat."

A scoff.

"If I have to force-feed you, I will," she rebutted with amusement now intermingling with irritation. This threat seemed more idle than the last.

"Come on. I was good for you when you were taking care of me. Let me take care of you, stop fighting it."

He growled, but he seemed to take a moment to consider her words. She asked, cautiously, if he was going to cooperate.

"Fine, but I still ain't drinking that shit. Nothing that smells bad is going anywhere near my mouth."

Kagome grit her teeth in agitation and slammed the tea down in front of him before stalking off to the kamado stove. She got started on the stew, though she realized too late she had no meat to put in. Sometimes they ate without meat, but for a stew…why wasn't there any meat to put in? Oh, because Inuyasha always did the hunting. She could fish, right? No, not without a fishing pole. She could probably hit a rabbit with an arrow…if she knew where to look for them…

She turned a slow gaze back to her husband. She realized then that he had been staring at her the entire time she had her back turned to him. The darkness of his eyes somehow reminded her that he was the hunter in the relationship. It was normally so easy for him to snatch up any bird, mammal or fish she wanted for dinner, and he always did. It reminded her that she…had never actually learned to catch her own food. She didn't need to, because she relied on him to do it for her.

"What?" He griped when her gaze lingered a bit too long. She waved his question away and went back to it. Vegetable soup it would be.

She gave him a smaller portion of soup than he would normally eat, and she watched him stir the vegetables around for a while, taking random bites every minute or so. His eyes lifted from the bowl when she sighed and turned her gaze into her own vessel as she ate in silence. Inuyasha stirred around the last third of the bowl with more disinterest as he stared out the window at the darkened sky. He groaned quietly as his hand came up to rub his brow. Inuyasha pushed what was left of his dinner away and scooted back from his wife.

She suggested he lay down, and he scoffed, but complied readily. Kagome took care of the dishes as her husband got settled into bed. She was just putting the bowls away when she heard the scuff of calloused feet against her wood floors and felt a whoosh of air go past her. She hurriedly ran after, and from the sound of it, he had barely made it to the door before his dinner departed his stomach _for the ground_. Once again she held back his hair and laid a soothing hand on his shoulder. Once again he growled in anger, but this time, when he stood, he immediately fell back towards the earth. It was everything Kagome could do to catch him and prevent him from falling in his own mess.

"Inuyasha?!" she nearly panicked. Another dizzy spell. He looked back up to her with full consciousness this time. This time, he let her help him up with no fuss. She wrapped an arm around her shoulder, held him around the waist, and they walked back into the house, so that she could get him back on the bed. His skin was so hot. Had her fever gotten that high? She ran up and grabbed her laundry tub, setting it beside him as he had done with a bucket for her. That washtub would see worse things with all the blood and guts she knew she'd be washing out of their clothing at some point or another.

She brought back the bowl of cool water and cloth. Inuyasha groaned.

"I fuckin' hate this!" He growled in a human way.

"I know, hush." She pressed a hand to the center of his chest, and forced him to lay down once again. She grazed his cheek with the side of her hand, and she realized the temperature of his skin was very, very high. It was so worrisome.

Inuyasha finally calmed down a few minutes later, watching with interest as Kagome started a fire in the center of the room with the embers from cooking. She found something of interest to do against the wall at his feet, jotting down something in a notebook. Paper was easier to make in her time, so he had seen her use a lot of notebooks during her travels. He had looked at this one, just the first few pages full of scribbles he didn't understand, while the rest was blank. He even knew how to read a little, but he couldn't make heads or tails of whatever she had written in it. He wondered if it was common practice to learn other languages where she lived. Miroku could write in several, but that was part of his education as a monk. Inuyasha wondered what sort of trade might she have been pursuing if she hadn't come back to live with him?

He was drawn away from his thoughts when Kagome set the book down and crawled back over to him. He remained still as Kagome removed the cloth over his forehead, re-wet and replaced it. She pressed her knuckles against his cheek. She frowned and drew her hand back.

"God, Inuyasha. This fever is bad. How are you feeling?" She sat back beside the wall and picked up her notebook, but kept her eyes on him to wait for an answer. He grunted and eyed the book she held. It had some strange writing on the front cover, and below that she had written something he at least recognized as writing, though he couldn't read the kanji.

"What are you writing?" he asked, avoiding her question. It turned out to be a sufficient enough statement to draw her attention away. She closed the book and turned it over in her hands. She smiled gently.

"It's notes, from what I learn while I'm with Kaede. I only started writing them down recently, since I figure this book won't get much use other than that," she said quietly.

"Plants and uses and stuff?"

Kagome nodded.

"Mixed in with a few rituals. Mostly the plants though. I took a few decent health classes back home, but I don't know how much they'd help me here."

Inuyasha smiled. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"That's good thinking. You've always been smart."

"…Wha…" she said, barely in a breath.

'_Oh…he complemented me again…_' Kagome didn't know why she felt so warm, hearing that. It was…natural for him to say nice things about her, they were married, after all but…it was so strange. And it felt really good when he said it so softly. He really meant that. She looked up to thank him, only for him to bolt upright and grab at the tub she had set beside him...

"Inuyasha, won't you have some tea?" Kagome asked while cringing and dragging to tub out to wash. "It really does settle your stomach. I can vouch for that."

"Ugh, not with it smelling the way it does," Inuyasha almost…whined…from his place on the bed.

"It might smell bad to your hanyou nose, but to a human's it's not that bad," she assured. Inuyasha's eyes opened to look back at the black-haired woman across from him. He rubbed a hand down his upset stomach.

"Fine," he grumbled. Kagome tried to hide the smile, encouraged by her small victory. She set the tea on to heat, and brought out the tub to wash. She returned with the tub and poured him out a cup to drink. It still had a smell, but pinching his nose did the trick, without the heightened olfactory senses. The taste wasn't as bad as it seemed either. It went down relatively easily.

A while later, Kagome noticed that while he claimed his nausea had gotten better, his temperature hadn't. The poor guy was sweating terribly, and he refused to let her cover him up. It stayed like that for the rest of the night, until an hour or so before dawn, Kagome finally heard the slight snore of a sleeping man. Kagome let herself nod off then, braced against the wall.

Unbeknownst to her, her husband startled out of his sleep cycle panting and sweating worse than he had been before. He couldn't even remember what he'd been dreaming, but his heart felt like it was going to pound right out of his chest. He swallowed, trying to catch his breath. It was always the fever dreams he hated. Always. He looked over to where his wife was sleeping, knees brought to her chest, and forehead resting atop folded arms. That couldn't be comfortable—he would know. He wondered if she would get sick again if she slept next to him. Then again, she hadn't gotten sick again last night, and she slept close for most of the night. He just needed to be close enough to smell her. That was probably why he hadn't had any bad dreams last night. That was probably why he hadn't had a single nightmare since she had returned. Other than the jobs, she had spent every night in arm's reach, whether in Kaede's hut, of their own.

'_Of course_,' he thought, '_of course she's the cure for bad dreams_.'

He was so hot. He pulled the hair off the back of his neck, only to find his hair completely drenched, having stuck to his kosode while he slept. Which was also drenched. No wonder Kagome wanted a bath, even if it meant freezing water. He would have to do the same come morning…he hoped he would be better come morning. He hoped his one human night didn't extend this illness any longer than usual. Although, he could handle it as a hanyou. His human body…it was just so…so much harder on his body.

Wait. Other than the sweat drenching his clothes, did he still feel sick? The nausea was gone, the fever was—he slapped a hand to his head, though he couldn't get a good read. He stretched his back. All the fatigue he was feeling, the sort that made him want to sleep even on his human night…all gone. He was still a limp noodle, as he always was in this form, but he felt fine! He swung his head around to catch the sun rising with baited breath.

"Hell yeah!"

The exclamation woke the sleeping woman, who scrambled onto her hands and knees, blearily searching the room for danger. What she saw was a tall man with golden eyes staring down at her with what almost looked like...glee?

"Inuyasha?" She croaked. Inuyasha put a hand on his hip and chuckled.

"Well, I'm fine again."

Kagome blinked in sudden understanding. She smiled, pushing off her knee to stand in front of him.

"You're 100% fine? Not sick at all."

"Far as I can tell, yeah," he said with a shake of his head.

"That's wonder—" she stalled and made a face when she laid a hand on his arm, where the kosode was wet from sweat, "—ful…"

"Uh…" Inuyasha was suddenly reminded that he was covered in sweat, and to top it off, he smelled like sickness, which he hated.

* * *

...

* * *

At this point I still haven't finished writing chapter 18 (today is 09/15/2015) but I'm moving into my dorm and getting settled right now, so I hope I have a chance to soon.

Also, Inuyasha still hates to admit weakness, the fool. Even to your wife?


	18. Ticklish

**Ticklish**

"Oh come on, Kagome! Even little kids catch fish like this." It was the afternoon, after a long day sparring with Sango, and the hanyou man was in good spirits. Inuyasha stood slightly upriver from his wife, wading through knee-deep water. She wore her yukata hiked up past her knee and tucked into her obi, while her husband didn't even bother, trudging in and soaking the bottoms of his hakama. The water was still cold, but the river was wider, and the sun shined brightly upon it, making a bit warmer than the offshoot that ran behind her house.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome growled. This only earned a laugh from him. His ears twitched, and he tipped his head towards the bank.

"Hey, you three!" Inuyasha called out. Kagome turned her head towards where Inuyasha indicated. Standing there among the bushes were three young children. A girl and two younger boys. They all looked on with a bit of curiosity at the Hanyou and Miko pair. The younger of the boys, at about four, looked a bit annoyed. This was obviously their normal fishing spot that the couple had overtaken.

"Come show Kagome how it's done. You three came here to fish right?" Inuyasha waved the kids over. Kagome hissed at Inuyasha, telling him not to pick on the kids.

"I ain't pickin' on 'em. I've seen these three at it. They're experts at hand fishing."

The eldest smiled at the mention of apparent skills and tiptoed into the water behind Kagome. She carefully stepped over the rocks until she got over to the out-of-uniform Miko, gripping onto the woman's sleeve.

"Kagome-sama, you don't know how to fish even though you're grown up?"

Kagome gave a forced bit of laughter.

"That's not bad is it?"

"It's okay. I can't whistle, but Hiro can, and he's younger than me." Kagome lifted a brow, but nodded nonetheless.

"I'll show you how to fish."

Kagome looked over at her husband. He had donned a self-satisfied grin above his crossed arms as he stood out and let the kids do the work in teaching his wife this simple technique. He had laughed when she brought up her concerns a few days ago, that she really didn't know how to hunt or fish on her own. Wasn't that the man's job? She had disagreed, only for the fact that Inuyasha did occasionally leave for days on end.

He sloshed back to the far bank to shake off. When he first looked out to Kagome, he was met with the curious face of the youngest boy, obviously intrigued by him shaking off like that. He ignored the kid and watched Kagome take pointers from the eldest child. In no time, the older of the boys snatched a little trout out of the water. His siblings and Kagome congratulated him on the hand-length fish. Kagome looked good out there. He'd always known she was good with kids, as she displayed here, laughing and talking softly with the little guys while they waited for fish to wonder downstream. She was great with Shippo, although she tended to spoil him.

Where was that little runt anyway? The brat had told him three days past the first night he'd return, yet as Inuyasha looked at the pale ghost of the moon, the little sliver was five days full. He wasn't worried about him, but he realized he actually didn't mind him staying all that much—since they got the sleeping arrangements figured out. He actually thought the villagers minded more than he did, considering all the pranks Shippo and the occasional kitsune friend pulled around the place. All harmless, like sticking the lot of chickens on someone's roof, or duplicating themselves to make an out-of-tune choir for the men trying to work the fields.

"Bah." It didn't matter that the kid was late, he'd show up sooner or later. Inuyasha spread out in the shade, since it was still hot out in the sun. Maybe Shippo had gotten himself disqualified from something again. He was usually reluctant to come back and tell everyone if that happened. That had explained his tardiness to return on several occasions.

He heard a squeal, followed by a loud splash and nearly groaned. He opened one eye to glance upon the empty space where his wife had just been standing. She came up sputtering, but then laughed at herself, holding up her prize in one hand. He sat up halfway, surprised she had actually managed it so soon. And the fish she held wasn't small either.

"Good job, Kagome," he muttered as his lovely young wife stood and examined the flopping trout she held by the tail.

* * *

Kagome smirked at her husband as he examined the fish his wife had caught. Good size too. These were all they really needed for dinner.

"Well, I guess you can do something right, after all," he teased.

"Hey!" Kagome frowned in mock offense. She couldn't help the smile that interrupted the frown though. She flapped her sleeves before she tucked her hands behind her back. Her yukata was already dry from the time spent catching the last few fish. Inuyasha went inside to grab a knife when Kagome stopped him.

"There's something else I wanted to try too," she called from outside the door.

Inuyasha set the fish down to return outside.

"Well, you know I've been practicing making barriers and stuff, right?"

He lifted an eyebrow.

"I was wondering if you'd let me test one on you, to see if one worked—one of the ones to conceal my presence—not anything that might hurt you, of course!" Kagome snapped her jaw shut with the final words. Maybe she was asking too much, after all. She thought that some of that had come out wrong. She didn't want to use him as a guinea pig for new abilities really. Or did she? What would you call that, she just wanted practice! There was no way a concealment spell or barrier would hurt him, right?

Inuyasha quirked a curious brow, staring his lovely young wife up and down for a second.

"A concealment spell won't work. I could track your scent to the ends of the earth, and there's no way to hide that," he said arrogantly.

"Ah, no. This one will work especially well with those who rely in their nose," she argued. He scoffed. There was no way that would work. Just because there were barriers had had been held back by, it didn't mean he hadn't been able to sniff his way to them. For all the senses he relied on, his sense of smell way the one he trusted most. Kagome gave him a suspicious look, folding her arms behind her back, seeming to consider something for a moment. He was surprised when she darted forward and grabbed onto his shoulders. He looked at her curiously, while his hands automatically wrapped around her. She was up to something…that look was almost like the one she got whenever she'd tried her hand at matchmaking. Suddenly, she leaned up and pecked him on the cheek. His look became even more puzzled when she pushed against his chest. He released her…and she turned around and sprinted into the woods.

'_Wait. What?_' He stood there, dumbfounded as he watched the blue of her yukata being concealed by the green of the forest. Did she mean for him to chase her? What was she doing?

"She's playing a game," he muttered. A broad smirk grew on his lips as he hunched down in preparation for his ascent into the treetops. Weren't they a little old for tag? Wasn't she a little outmatched for a game requiring physical skill? She had to know chasing games were any demon's favorites, and Inuyasha was no different.

"Ten, nine, eight," he counted down for her head start. It was only fair. Technically. Blindfolding him and stuffing wax in his ears would still leave him with his nose, and that was _still_ an unfair advantage.

"Three, two…one!" He leapt up above the path she had taken. He looked down below as he made his way in the direction she had run. When he didn't spot her immediately, he chuckled. She was playing hide-and-seek was she? He pounced back down to the earth and picked up on her scent. He gave her plenty of room to get ahead of him as he slowly meandered along her scent trail.

He followed the trail…until he couldn't anymore. He stopped and blinked down at the sandal tracks when he realized he lost the scent. There was no dilution or waning of it, it just stopped at one point. Then nothing. No tracks, no scent. It was as if she had been plucked from the ground by some large bird…

A distinct possibility in this era.

Wait. He remembered what she was doing. She was testing out her concealment charm…barrier…spell…whatever the hell it was that hid her scent from him. He huffed. He backtracked a bit, looking out for her footprints. When he couldn't find them, he ran all the way back to the house, thinking he had bypassed them and maybe she had gone a different direction. He located her tracks along the path leading in the direction he had watched her run. Through some patches of earth, the ground wasn't even disturbed, and he looked all about for soft earth that would carry a track. He went in one direction for a few minutes, then backtracked. She wasn't very fast, especially when he suspected she was trying to be sneaky, so she wouldn't have even made it this far.

The more he had to backtrack and start on a new trail, the more worried he became. His tracking abilities were top notch. His ears were flicking around, trying to catch the sound of her breath, her heart, her repositioning herself since he had been at it so long her position had to be getting tired. He went back to the end of the footprints for the fifth time. His heart was beating in his ears.

And what for? He _knew_ she was out here somewhere. He knew she was fine, safe and whole—just hiding somewhere. Yet something—something really crazy—was telling him that suddenly she was gone. Gone somewhere he didn't know. He was supposed to protect her, and he couldn't even find her!

It made no sense! He told himself he was being ridiculous. How many times had he left on jobs without her? They both got up every morning and went their separate ways since they both had _jobs_ to do in the village and forest. He wasn't worried for her sake then. This was much the same, she was in his view, and then she wasn't. As it was every morning when he walked her down to Kaede's and returned to the forest. Protective instincts or not, she was just fine, as always.

Ah! Try to tell that to his racing heart!

* * *

Kagome watched the noble hunter pass her hiding space again. He looked so confused. She knew he was probably not used to being unable to find what he was looking for. Even when they were tracking Naraku, he eventually found his way to more clues of his whereabouts. Now, with a simple magical game of hide-and-seek, he looked completely lost. He never expected her to perfect a technique so quickly. Actually, neither had Miroku. He seemed surprised that she could conceal her presence so quickly, and hold the technique for so long. He couldn't even do that much.

Kagome giggled when Inuyasha passed by her again, this time stopping and putting a hand on his hip. This had to be the sixth time he passed her without knowing she was actually somewhat in the open. She sat between two trees, just off the main path enough that he wouldn't step on her when he was bounding through. She nearly laughed again, but he turned his body now so she could see his face…he looked really worried.

Should she reveal herself to him? She had no time to think about it when he was gone again. She shifted her legs again. He really wasn't able to pick up on a single thing about her being there. She waited a few minutes more for him to backtrack, and he took longer this time.

"Okay, Kagome? Kagome, where the hell are you?"

He called, this time from behind her. His ears were flicking wildly atop his head and she could practically hear him trying to sniff her out. She watched him for a moment, his shoulders looked tense. The wind blew overhead. He spun at the sound and faced Kagome. Kagome could tell from the look on his face that his heart must be beating a mile a minute. He knew she was just playing with him, right? She wasn't in any danger, there was no need for his expression to border on terror.

She stood, watching him, and making sure he was facing her when she let down her barrier. Any man would look happy to have a beautiful young woman materialize before him. Or with as worried as he had looked, maybe relief would show on an ordinary man's face—but Inuyasha—Inuyasha's concerned face morphed into annoyance the second he saw her. In two bounds he was an arm's reach from her.

"That's where you were? That's where you were the entire time and you didn't say anything," he growled.

"Inuyasha, I was just making sure it worked. Why are you so angry?" She didn't get an answer as she was suddenly scooped up about the waist and held under Inuyasha's one arm. He held her like a fitful toddler as he stalked off towards the house.

"Inuyasha, what the hell?! Let me go," she demanded from her undignified spot against Inuyasha's side. He changed his grasp to set her on her feet. He still held her with his fingertips, so he could lead her back home, but a sharp squeak from her panicked him into releasing her. Kagome jumped up holding her side where he had been holding her. She huffed, rubbing her side. She looked up to where he was shooting her a confused look from the sound of the squeak.

"Don't do that." Her voice came out with a laugh. She watched as Inuyasha's expression became even more confused. "My ribs are ticklish," she elaborated, rubbing around said ribs. Inuyasha blinked once more before his face fell into his regular annoyed scowl. He half-glared at her once more before turning on his heel and facing back towards home. Kagome frowned and trotted up beside him.

"Oh, come on Inuyasha! I just wanted to make sure it worked," she plead. Inuyasha huffed and sped his pace.

"I guess it worked," Inuyasha returned backhandedly. Kagome sighed and grabbed onto his arm.

"Inuyasha, I'm…" she started, slowly, "When you said it wouldn't work, I just _had_ to prove it would, you know?" Inuyasha looked down onto the face of his lovely wife, only to roll his eyes.

"I ain't even mad. Why're you so worked up?"

Kagome sighed, staring down at his chest. She almost jumped when she felt a warm hand on her back, but Inuyasha pushed her forward, along the path towards their home. She complied. That fish should be grilled soon, after all. She was caught off guard when the hand on her back squeezed her body against her husband's. She glanced up to his face, and didn't like the look of his sudden Cheshire-esque grin. The other hand came to her waist, fingers crawling up her side until she let out a laugh.

"Inuyasha! No!" She squealed gleefully as she tried to push out of her husband's grasp.

"You really _are_ ticklish here," he commented. He wondered why he had never noticed…wait…he had noticed a few other places she was ticklish. His hand slid under her sleeves to brush against the soft undersides of her arms, which she yanked in closer to her body. Hearing her laugh made him laugh as well, and he added at little more pressure to the fingers traveled along her ribs.

"Stop, that tickles!"

"Maybe it's payback for letting me pass by you like eighteen times," he chuckled as he continued his playful torture of his wife. She was laughing so hard it was starting to hurt. In retaliation, her hands darted under his arms to try and get the same reaction out of him. Inuyasha did chuckle, but only when he realized what she was doing.

"That won't work on me, I ain't ticklish." He snatched up her hands in one of his and continued to tickle the squealing young woman. He was a little curious to see her respond like this. He had seen mothers tickle their children, his own mother had tried to tickle him before, but he had never tried it. On a _very _rare occasion, he had glimpsed a spouse tickling a spouse. As Kagome was doing, the tickled struggled to get away from the tickler, while smiling and laughing, as if they enjoyed the act. It was contradictory, the two responses, but he thought the latter won out, with both parties actually enjoying this strange thing.

Kagome was really laughing now, and she was really starting to feel the burn in her sides.

"Inuyasha, please," she begged. He was holding her tighter now, as her struggling had gotten fiercer. Her sides were starting to ache from his fingers poking at her too. This really needed to stop, but she was laughing so hard she could barely get the words out.

"I'm serious," she laughed. "I'm gonna pee, come on, let go."

Was he even hearing her? He certainly wasn't taking her seriously, probably because she was laughing too hard. He was holding her really firmly too, she could barely squirm in his grasp, and she needed him to stop.

"I-Inuyasha." She wished that could come out without the giggle. In a moment of near-panic, between squeals, she blurted out the one word that would get him to stop.

"Osuwari!"

On instinct, Inuyasha shoved Kagome away from himself as he came crashing into the earth, only trapping the bottom hem of her hakama under him. This yanked Kagome to her knees, but he had successfully not crushed her under his weight and the weight of the spell. He was confused about why she'd used the spell. Irritated, but more confused than anything. When he was able to lift his head, he was met with panicked brown eyes and lips that spouted an apology at him.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha! I just—you got really carried away. I'm sorry."

Inuyasha blinked with a bewildered grunt.

"Oh…I was laughing so hard, it was starting to hurt. You couldn't hear me, so I didn't know what else to do!"

Hurt? It was starting to hurt? Hurt from what he was doing, or from laughing? Inuyasha sat up slowly when he was able and Kagome brushed a little dirt off his sleeve. He watched her carefully as she reached up to pick moss out of his forelocks. It was so easy to forget his bounds with her. He really had gotten carried away for a while there. He had heard her protesting too, but he didn't take her seri—

A very odd feeling swept over him. He had thought of something, but it was gone before he could track down the thought, and he was only left with the ghost of the emotion tied to it. Almost…fear? Why fear? He had been tickling her, enjoying it as she had been—until she wasn't enjoying it anymore. Where the hell had fear come into play?

He lost track of his thoughts when her lovely brown eyes turned towards his with a sympathetic smile. He blinked.

"You're alright, I shoulda been listenin'," Inuyasha apologized. Kagome sighed before shaking her head slightly. She trusted his understanding of the situation.

Inuyasha's ears twitched to something and Kagome turned her head in the direction of the house. Up over a log popped a little fox demon. Kagome gave Inuyasha one more look, and he answered with a huff and a smile. Kagome nodded and raced over to scoop up the boy as he immediately went into relaying his most recent adventures. Inuyasha watched them from where he sat, trying to remember where his thoughts had been. Cold, fear, a remorse he didn't understand-that's all he could recall. What the hell was going on?

Kagome called him forward as the kit and her walked towards the house. He physically shook his mind clear, trying to focus in on the nearing dinner, and not whatever dark place his thoughts had subconsciously wondered.

* * *

For once, the kit didn't seem like a bother as he chowed down on his fish and chatted up Kagome. He had, like Inuyasha expected, been moping after another failure to move up in rank, which was why he was late. He told Kagome that while they were doing a team exam, a teammate had gone out of bounds and got the rest disqualified.

"Ah, well, I guess that happens sometimes," Kagome sighed for the boy. He was still smiling though, and Kagome tilted her head expectantly as Shippo added on to the tale. Inuyasha chuckled and sat against the wall when he saw Kagome clap and congratulate Shippo on taking a make-up exorcise. She looked like a proud mother, pleased with her child's accomplishments.

A mother. Inuyasha's mouth twitched at the thought that she might someday be mother to _his_ children. And what a good mother she would make! She would be supportive, loving, accepting…like she was with Shippo.

Well…

Inuyasha looked between the woman and child. She had had a fair bit of practice, hadn't she? He had never seen it this way, before, but Kagome cared for the boy as a mother might. She always had. Mentally, Inuyasha took a step back. He thought over the three of them in the room. A man, a woman, and a child. Isn't that was traditionally constitutes a family? Did…did that make him a sort of father figure to the boy? No, that wasn't right. If he was supposed to function as a surrogate father to the kit, he had done a shitty job of it. An elder brother he could see, but a father?

Then…Inuyasha thought that one day, he could become a father, and…unlike Kagome, he hadn't really been practicing being a parent. Would he know how to handle that? Would he know what to do?

Inuyasha's thoughts were interrupted by Shippo's question towards him.

"Kagome caught all these fish? By herself?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah she did," Inuyasha said with a blink.

"Wow, good job!" Shippo beamed, looking back towards Kagome. Inuyasha shook his mind free of his previous thought as another curious one entered his mind. Shippo was a fox, after all.

"How's your rabbit hunting, Shippo?" Inuyasha knew that as part of the training on the mountain, Shippo had learned how to catch small animals and fend for himself.

"Oh, pretty good, why?"

Kagome sent Inuyasha the same curious expression as Shippo.

"Well," Inuyasha began, setting his skewer down, "I was thinking you could help teach Kagome how to track rabbits, too."

"Really?" Shippo asked suspiciously. He remained suspicious until Inuyasha's replying nod put him at ease. He so rarely got asked for any sort of help from the hanyou, the boy couldn't help but grin at Inuyasha expectantly.

"Yeah, definitely. You won't mind, right Kagome?" Kagome sent her husband a sweet smile. She was glad he was being inclusive of the little boy as well. Inuyasha's mouth twitched to counter the effect that appreciative smile had on him—cheeks burning in embarrassment. Did she still have to treat every small benevolent act out of him as some sort of accomplishment?

* * *

...

* * *

This chapter was from a picture I drew before I even started on Little by Little, before I ever decided to turn it into a story. Just a cute few interactions, Inuyasha teaching Kagome how to fish, playing a game of chase, Inuyasha tickling his wife. All adorable things. Not much of a chapter, but adorable. Also...A little bit of foreshadowing...

Have a lovely day, all!


	19. Flowers

**Flowers**

"Okay, hold still then," Miroku instructed.

"Like I got a fucking choice," Inuyasha muttered. Miroku frowned, but continued his work, pressing on the hanyou's shoulder blade with one hand, and getting a grip on his arm with the other. He swiveled the arm until he heard that all too familiar popping sound. The hanyou grunted with the pain, then gave a sigh of relief, shoulder joint back in its regular place. Miroku sat back and sighed.

"It's coming out a lot more readily nowadays," Miroku commented, watching his friend try to wipe the gore from his blade one-handed. From his stiff motions, it looked like he had tweaked his back too.

"Nothing I can do about it, monk," Inuyasha replied bitterly. His shoulder still hurt, and his left arm hung limply at his side. Miroku bit his cheek, as he watched the man shove the sword back in in sheath awkwardly, without the use of his left hand to steady the scabbard. He suggested that the white-haired man at least keep it in a sling until he healed.

"Kagome'll know if I came back in a sling." Kagome had been making a fuss lately about this demon slaying business since the last time she and he went out. She didn't realize he'd been putting himself in so much danger every time, and Inuyasha had tried to reason with her that he had always been fine, and he would always be fine. They would need the money, he told her. He had no trade skills, and other than gifts for her duties in the form of vegetables, she didn't earn anything, either. They were still borrowing a few items, and that was what this trip was for. He had told her before she had time to argue or was coherent enough to remember his necklace, that he was leaving that dawn, and that he would return to her by dusk, uninjured…he could hide a dislocated shoulder from her, he was sure…

"Yes, perhaps, but those bite marks are deep, they may take a few days to heal," Miroku conjectured.

"My sleeves hide the worst of them."

"Oh, but when you remove your clothes for the night, she will surely see them."

Inuyasha huffed through his nose and shot his friend a flustered glare.

"Filthy-minded freak. We don't do that every night."

* * *

Inuyasha had been really good with Shippo in the past few days. Kagome woke up to a quiet conversation yesterday morning , Inuyasha having come back in from fetching water, and Shippo still sitting up on the folded sleeping bag that he used for his bed. She had pretended to be asleep for another minute, just listening to the quiet small talk the hanyou and young demon engaged in. Apparently, the taller mountain next to the kitsune training grounds had already gotten a fresh dusting of snow. Shippo was excited because he had one more trip to make before he stayed in Kaede's village for the winter. A guest was supposed to be coming as well to teach the younger demons. A white fox with six tails. Shippo thought it was funny that the white fox would be coming just as soon as the snow had.

It was Kagome's chuckle that gave her away as the boys turned their heads in her direction to give their morning greeting.

Kagome sighed. How lovely was that? Inuyasha really had done some growing up, hadn't he? He was treating Shippo like an actual person, a demon who could hold a conversation as well as any adult, and not just some pest of a little kid.

Kagome's thoughts snapped forward when she saw Rin veering off the path.

"Rin? Where are you going?"

"Oh, sorry. I saw a patch of lilies and got distracted," Rin blushed and got back on the path. Kagome smiled with a hum. Rin was allowed to leave the village only to accompany Kagome to the next. Normally Rin spent her days with Hana, a woman who had raised and married off five daughters to neighboring villages. Today, Kaede had told the woman that Inuyasha might fuss if he discovered Kagome made the trip alone. He and Miroku had left promptly that morning, and Kaede's back was in no shape to make the trip.

Kagome was happy to hear the girl humming a tune as they went along. When they first started out that morning, Rin seemed melancholy. Kagome didn't ask at first, thinking it rude, but as the minutes ticked by, she realized how strange it was for the girl to not strike up a conversation.

* * *

"Is there something wrong, Rin?"

Rin shook her head stiffly. Three seconds later the tiny girl let out an exasperated sigh and turned pleading eyes to Kagome.

"You don't think Rin—I—talk too much, do you?"

Kagome blinked at that. Of course not. She valued the conversations she had with the little girl. Rin was usually upbeat, and very was actually very skilled at chatting people up. She could usually read people well, a concealed lie was not well concealed to her. She didn't think the girl could tell a decent lie herself, with how quickly her thoughts migrated to her mouth. She had never been afraid to speak her mind, and Kagome really appreciated that about Rin.

"Well, tell that to Hana. She says I talk too much, and that boys will never want to marry someone like that." Rin held her head up and stepped forward more quickly.

"Well that doesn't sound right…" Kagome wasn't sure how to respond to that. She had heard the gossip of enough women to know that wasn't entirely true. She knew that a wife in these times was—although it didn't mean she had to like it—supposed to be subservient, submissive, sub—well, everything.

_Why did the image of Inuyasha hissing and groaning under her come to mind?_

She shook away _that _particular thought when Rin continued on.

"Well you know what I think? I don't really want to get married anyway, so why should I care what boys think?"

* * *

Kagome paused as both of Rin's hands slapped over her mouth, eyes wide.

"I didn't mean to say—ah! Kagome don't think poorly of me please!" What? Kagome was surprised by the shock on the girl's face. What had she said to think Kagome might see her in a poor light?

"Huh? Why would I ever think that? Rin?"

Rin bit her lip and laced her fingers together.

"That…that I don't want to get married…ever…" She looked up into Kagome's eyes for some sort of disapproval, unsure if she would find any. She hoped she wouldn't.

* * *

"I know I'm supposed to want to get married to a boy from one of these villages, one of these days, but…I just don't want to. I mean, maybe I will when I'm a lot older, but right now it just seems weird to think about it. All of the other girls seem excited when they talked about marrying the guys but I just don't…I don't want to marry a boy from around here. The boys my age are weird, you know?"

Kagome let out a soft sigh, and gave Rin a reassuring smile. Rin's eyes sparkled when she saw the deep understanding from the older woman. Kagome was such an amazing person, and as much as she loved to talk with everyone, she had grown fondest of Kagome—next to Sesshomaru, of course, but he wasn't a very good conversationalist.

"Oh, I understand that. Trust me though, the boys will be more…_tolerable_…when they're older." She paused with Rin's sudden frown. Was there something Kagome wasn't understanding? Countering her last statement, she continued with, "and even if you never want to marry, there's really nothing wrong with that. You have a place here, helping Kaede and I around, so there's no real need for you to ever marry."

Rin seemed to consider the statement. Kagome waited for the girl to say something to accept or reject her words, but then the girl smiled.

"I'm sure I can make a place for myself, even without marrying some village boy…Thank you, Kagome." She walked another few steps, before she turned back. "And if, maybe, I find a…a guy…I really like, and I have to leave the village, you won't think anything bad about me leaving you and Kaede to your duties alone?"

Kagome chuckled. She was certain her and the older Miko could handle things without any trouble if Rin were to leave and marry. She reassured the girl of this, earning a grin on the preteen's face.

* * *

The village head's wife was pregnant again, and Kaede knew from experience how poorly her body handled morning sickness. Kagome was checking up on her, giving her a little dose of something to help if she needed it. The young Miko and younger girl would be back by the early afternoon.

At least that's what Kagome hoped. Inuyasha had told her he would be back by dusk, and he knew nothing about the trip she was making. Rin was there, a short sword from Sesshomaru hidden under the preteen's clothes, but Kagome knew Inuyasha would find that unacceptable. _As if she needed protection_. This was one of several villages that lay within the bounds of Inuyasha's forest, so even if she felt confident in her bow, she knew there was nothing within that might harm her. Not that Inuyasha would accept that reasoning either.

Kagome smelled smoke from cook fires once again as they came closer to the village. A woman chopping firewood caught sight of the pair first, throwing a confused look their way. She recognized the younger girl—although she seemed to be in a different kimono every time she saw her—but the young woman? She mouthed an 'oh' as she realized who Kagome must be.

"Why hello Rin, Miko-sama," she greeted. "You must be Kaede-sama's apprentice."

Kagome nodded in reply.

"You're aware of Ranko's pregnancy I take it? Good timing. I haven't seen her leave the house in two days, I suspect the child's made her ill again."

"Oh, that's what I was afraid of," Kagome said as she touched her fingertips to her lips. Rin tapped Kagome's shoulder for her to follow the girl.

"I'm sure she'll be alright. This is her seventh child." The woman gave her name, and asked Kagome's, since she was certain she'd be seeing more of her.

When Kagome was allowed into the room, she was surprised to see a woman the barely older herself smiling weakly at her. She couldn't be more than twenty-one, and was probably younger under the tired circles that rounded out her eyes. Rin sat before her, asking her how she was feeling, as Kagome stared on dumbly. She looked over at Rin next to the woman, talking with her softly, as an experienced nurse might. She shook off her hesitance and came to join Rin beside the woman, asking her how long she had been feeling ill, what her symptoms were, and so forth.

"I thought that by the third child I might get over it, but here it is, my seventh child, and I still get like this," she said with a laugh. Kagome hesitated again. Seventh? That's right, this woman had six other children and…and she was only Kagome's age. The young Miko felt very cold, all of a sudden. For this woman to have seven children she had to…her eyes were drawn to Rin, who stood to bring the woman, Ranko, something to drink.

Her math just wasn't working out. For this young woman to be on her seventh child she must have…she must have started having babies at around Rin's age!

"Um," Kagome voiced cautiously, "I'm afraid I might be prying, but are all your children healthy?"

The woman chuckled.

"Oh don't worry Miko-sama. Yes, all my children are quite healthy, despite how I get while I'm carrying them."

"Oh, that's wonderful news," Kagome said with a smile. She thought of how to work around her curiosity without seeming blunt. She didn't want to go out and ask how young she was when she had her first but—how young did women get married in these times? Surely Rin was too young for that! She was barely old enough to get her per—she was just way too young!

"Have you any twins?"

Ranko confirmed that she had one pair of twin boys from her forth pregnancy. Kagome swallowed. Okay, so that might put her at fourteen or fifteen when she had a child—best case scenario. Fourteen? When was that a good age to have a child?! She was older than that when she met Inuyasha. She shook that away from her thoughts and actually went to treating the woman. While she was sure she had been over this instruction many times before she stressed the importance of getting enough fluids, for both woman and baby.

"Oh thank you," said the man who accepted a dose of herbs for Ranko, "my wife is usually very healthy, but carrying a child has always been hard on her." Kagome blinked at the man as he went on with his thanks.

She started walking down the path with Rin and this entire situation gave her a sense of alienation. This was so weird, how things worked in this era. When she had first seen the man, she had assumed he was Ranko's father or father-in-law. When she got a good look at him, he was younger than she thought, but he was at least fifteen years her senior! That wasn't right.

That would be little more the apparent age gap between Sesshomaru and Rin the very first time Kagome had seen the child. If the woman had started having children at fourteen, then the age gap was less than that between her and her eldest child. Sure, extreme age gaps weren't unheard of even in her time period, but…

_Boys my age are weird, you know?_

Rin was strangely quiet again. Kagome's attention was snapped away from her thoughts when the girl once again wondered off the path. She was nearly twelve, but she was still a little girl at heart—and much too young to marry!

"Rin?" She called when the girl darted out of sight. To her surprise, the girl came bounding back to her happily, gripping a handful of lovely yellow flowers.

"Do you have any water?" She asked as she pulled a rag from her kimono and wrapped it around the stems of the flowers. Kagome shot her a curious look, but handed the girl her water nonetheless. She watched as she carefully wet the cloth. She smiled as she held the flowers up for inspection.

"Those are lovely, Rin. Do you know their name?"

The girl blushed at the question, shaking her head.

"But they are pretty, aren't they? I love the color. The exact same color as Lord Sessh—" she cut off. She stared blankly at the flowers for another second before she turned her gaze up to the Miko whose eyebrow raised a fraction higher. Kagome eyed the flowers and shook her head.

"Inuyasha too. His eyes are the same color as these flowers," Kagome added.

Rin smiled softly.

"Yes, the same as Inuyasha and Lord Sesshomaru's…" her smile fell slightly… "Do…do you think…" she trailed off as her smile disappeared completely. The girl was so fond of Kagome's brother-in-law. She always had been.

"It's been a long time since his last visit, hasn't it?" Rin nodded forlornly. She gasped with the small pressure against her shoulder. Kagome's hand was warm, and she leaned back against the woman's arm. She sighed. Kagome petted down the girl's hair.

"I know it's been a while, but he's probably very busy, you know?" Rin nodded stiffly, so Kagome continued on. "Ah, well…I'm sure he'll visit very soon, and when he does, he'd be surprised to see how tall you're getting."

Rin scoffed.

"I'm not any taller, and you know it." Well…Rin had always been a little smaller than the other girls her age…Rin pushed away from Kagome, giving the older woman a suspicious look. Kagome raised her eyebrows, and watched with amusement as the girl scrunched her face to try to fight the smile Kagome's expression had induced. Finally the girl's face cracked into a smile with a laugh. Kagome laughed as well, and they continued on their way.

When Kagome saw Rin dart off the road again, she didn't even have to ask what for, as the girl swiftly returned with red lilies, and some other white flowers to add to her bunch.

"Look!" Rin beamed as she bundled the wet cloth around the larger bunch of flowers. "A bouquet that looks like Lord Sesshomaru."

Kagome burst out laughing when she examined the bunch again. Red, white and gold, the colors suited the little girl's favorite person very well. While Rin giggled, Kagome caught the edge of two demonic auras approaching. Not long after, a fluffball came bounding into view, followed by a flash of red and white…and yellow, if you wanted to consider the eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving the village?"

Kagome sighed, it couldn't be helped.

"I let you leave this morning. So we're even."

Shippo had tried to stop Inuyasha from following Kagome's scent out into the woods, grumbling to himself, but there wasn't a lot the kit could do. He had been busy all day fixing some of his props, and he had only caught Inuyasha's scent at the last second. He expected Kagome and Inuyasha to start arguing, but to his—and Kagome's—surprise, Inuyasha merely growled and dropped the issue. Kagome sighed with relief and continued on her way with Inuyasha walking beside her. Not getting angry about something like this was another accomplishment for Inuyasha in her book. She didn't see him rubbing his side and cringing.

Kagome smiled and looked behind her when she noticed Rin was not following, having stooped to add a blackish twig to her flower arrangement. Almost the same color as Sesshomaru's armor…She was so fond of the demon. With the way she blushed, rearranging the flowers, Kagome had to wonder…Well, they appeared slightly closer in age now...

"Hey, Inuyasha, do you think..." her whisper trailed off. Inuyasha hummed for her to continue her question, but she waved him off. She tapped her fingers to her lips. She supposed it was possible, she had her first crush when she was about Rin's age...Then again, the little girl had always seemed this devoted to the demonic man, always talking him up as her hero, as even Souta had of Inuyasha. Shippo looked at Kagome curiously, before turning back to look for Rin.

"Hey! You're gonna get left behind," the fox called to the little human girl. The girl popped up at that and jogged up to the trio as they all walked towards the village.

* * *

"No! Dammit Kagome, I said I was fine!"

Kagome had noticed the edge of a healing wound showing from under his sleeve when he laid the bedding out for the night. That had started her whining about getting injured, and needing to see the extent of his wounds.

She yanked his sleeve back to examine a few more healing punctures in his left arm.

"I got bit, it happens, it's not gonna kill me," he argued.

"Maybe if it doesn't get infected. I need you to undress so I can get a better look."

"For fuck's sake Kagome."

"Now." She looked directly at the beads as she spoke, and he begrudgingly tugged on the ties at his chest. Kagome realized his left arm must actually be hurting, since he wasn't using that hand to remove his top at all. Before she could think to help him with his top, the layers came off, and he plopped down in front of her.

Sighing, she pushed his hair from his left shoulder. She carefully picked up his arm, examining the wounds that ran across it. Most had crusted over with scabs, and there were a few marks that showed new pink skin already coming in to replace the damaged skin. There was little bruising too, up by his shoulder. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any open wounds at this time. She sat at his side to run her fingers over his shoulder, noting the wince. She was familiar with damage at this left arm. Early on in their friendship, Inuyasha had slammed up against a bounder to pop it back in, and once after that, she had seen Sango help fix his arm.

"Did your shoulder get dislocated again?"

A grunt answered her question. She ran her hand over his back, and here he flinched, too, when she pressed her fingers into his vertebrae.

"Did you hurt your back, too?"

"Just a little stiff," he muttered. She nodded. She told him that she wouldn't need to treat the wounds, but she then surprised him by asking him to lay on his belly.

"Well your back hurts, right?"

"What're you gonna do to it?"

"Just trust me." Her smile was supposed to look serene, but it only made her husband suspicious. Suspicion aside, he did as he was told. What surprised him next was Kagome sitting on top of his legs and placing her hands on his spine.

Was she seriously going to give him a massage? Inuyasha's face flushed with the thought. He was so embarrassed, but thrilled at the same time, that she was going to do something he'd always heard about, but had never put any real thought into. It was so embarrassing.

He was confused when she told him to exhale. On his next exhale she—hey! This wasn't a massage at all! He heard three pops, and he made an involuntary squeak when she lifted the pressure. He was about to ask what she was doing when she moved her hands lower and pressed down with another of his exhales. Two more pops and he...

'_Huh…that actually felt kinda good,_' he thought. She moved lower on his spine every time and Inuyasha almost sighed when she finished with the small of his back. It wasn't a massage, but damn, that felt good.

"You really were stiff," she said, "you feeling any better?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'm no chiropractor, but I was hoping that would work." She was about to get off his legs when she heard another quiet comment.

"Yeah, definitely not a massage, but good."

"Oh," she said, leaning off to the side so she could see her husband's face, "do you want a massage?" Kagome guessed, from the sudden change of expression and embarrassed turning of his head that he probably did. She touched just her fingertips to the back of his neck. She warned that it probably wouldn't be very good, but Inuyasha said nothing and tried to hide his face in his hair.

She started just below his shoulder blades and pushed her thumbs up gradually. When she got to the back of his neck, he turned his head and Kagome saw that he was gazing idly off to the side with half-closed eyes. He looked like a cat getting the base of their tail scratched. She smiled. It was so quiet, and her mind began to wander to today's events with the pregnant woman, and Rin's behavior. She said she wanted to stay single, but Kagome had the sneaking suspicion that she just didn't want to be forced into a match, and also—

"Why'd you stop?"

"I was thinking, sorry," she said, trying to remember where she had last had her hands.

"Bah."

* * *

...

* * *

I imagine Rin and Kagome would become close with Kaede looking after her. I want to have Kagome become sort of a big sister to Rin, and help her through the ups-and-downs of growing up, heartbreak and whatnot.


	20. Trust

**Trust**

Inuyasha awoke to a scuffing sound just a few meters from his door. He jumped up, grabbed his hakama and tied the knot as he ran to intercept the unwanted visitor.

"It's the middle of the night, monk. Some people sleep at night," he hissed as he pushed back the screen on his door. He scowled deeply at the violet-clad man, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"Yes, I know, but we just had a fellow race here on horseback," the man whispered urgently. The hanyou's demeanor changed instantly.

"That serious?"

"It would seem. There was a landslide just north of here, and a demon was released from a sealed mound." Inuyasha nodded then. The monk glanced down his friend's bare torso then. The hanyou was in no way dressed for travel. Despite the urgency of the matter, the monk smirked.

"Oh, and I'm sorry if I interrupted anything," he said, his tone doing nothing to hide its lewd meaning. Inuyasha scoffed.

"Only a good night's sleep, idiot." Inuyasha glanced back to his door, where inside his wife was still sleeping peacefully.

"I'll meet you at the north road in ten minutes." The monk took his leave then, allowing the hanyou time to get dressed and ready. He pulled on his clothes and hastily tucked everything into place. He shoved the Tessaiga through his hakama ties, taking one last look at his wife.

Ah, wait. She had twisted the covers again, pulling them down around her legs. God, did she look so defenseless with her arms curved above her head like that, her torso stretched and open. Inuyasha shook his head and went over to pull the covers back over her. As much as he liked waking to view her bare skin the morning after marital activities, the leaves were already changing colors, and he could sense the change in the air. He would rather the woman not freeze in her sleep.

Her arms came down to her chest, hands curling into loose fists against her collarbone. Inuyasha couldn't resist the urge to brush her bangs from her eyes, tucking a loose strand behind her ear. Her face was so serene, and his face echoed that as he brushed against her cheek.

"I'll see you tonight, okay," he whispered to her, knowing she wouldn't understand him, but she turned her face into his warm palm nonetheless. Inuyasha removed his hand and nodded. He'd try to get home before dark.

* * *

When Kagome awoke alone again, she went on with her daily routine. Every few days Inuyasha left her before dawn to work out with Sango. She was used to waking alone, and there was nothing wrong with it.

Although she argued it, Sango insisted she had baby weight that needed losing, and Kagome was happy to see Inuyasha so willing to help out their friend with that. If Kagome was speaking honestly, she thought her friend's figure was gorgeous before, and had only gotten lovelier after her children. Her chest was still heavy with milk, but in her tight black suit, she didn't appear to have a bit of extra fat on her. Her limbs muscular without looking masculine, her waist thin and her hips shapely…if Kagome was honest with herself, she almost wished she were as lovely. She wasn't going to be jealous her friend though, Sango was just as wonderful as she was beautiful.

In one discussion with the woman's husband, Miroku, it seemed he thought just the same. He knew of the few stretch marks from her pregnancies, but Kagome could tell he adored the woman, and her body, just the same as he had years ago. As for her own husband, he had commented once—_though she couldn't be sure how seriously a man could be taken while growling against his wife's midriff_—that no woman had ever held his gaze before her.

Oh, but here she was off on a tangent. She was supposed to be running to the river to rinse the wild herbs she had collected. To her surprise, along the water's edge, she spotted the woman her thoughts had lingered on just seconds ago. It was early in the morning, surely they had not broken for lunch yet.

"Sango?" She called, receiving her own name in reply as the woman's twin girls caught sight of her first. Sango greeted her, returning then to her laundry. The young Miko inquired about where both their husbands were. The former demon exterminator explained that the boys had left in a rush the previous night. The younger woman was surprised to hear it, since they usually left early in the morning. The young mother continued that this demon seemed to be a tricky sort, popping up in a village quickly after its escape from the mound it was sealed within.

Kagome went back to sort and empty her basket before returning out to a different part of the field. Near the tree line, she met Shippo, who had been out all night setting pranks for the villagers. While Kagome disapproved of it, Inuyasha convinced her it was just part of Shippo's nature. Foxes were tricksters, there was no helping that. Plus, it had been a while since it was just the two of them sitting down to a hot meal together.

"Oh, so you want us to have the _whole_ night together, you perve," she had joked, not expecting the horrified expression on her husband's face.

"I-I wasn't even thinking about that," he sputtered. Given his reaction, she supposed he could have genuinely wanted to spend some time with his wife—innocently. Kagome wondered which one of them that made the pervert. Although, with her starting to rub up on him before he even had the dishes rinsed, she really shouldn't wonder too hard.

Shippo came to sit beside her, munching on a grilled lizard as a snack. Kagome asked what sort of pranks he had set up, and he replied simply that it was a secret. Kagome paused her work to send the boy a disapproving stare, and he caved right away. All of the pranks were harmless. Kagome saw to it that they stayed that way, demanding he go take down the one fake snake prank that might spook a passing horse and cause property damage. The rest he could keep up.

The two migrated to Kaede's hut come lunch time. Rin greeted the woman happily as she entered. Kagome had made sure to make time to talk to Rin every day when she returned from Hana's. The young girl had been feeling down as of late, and Hana chastised her for speaking about it. The girl had been missing her savoir too, as more and more days passed without a visit from the demon lord. Kagome even noticed that the girl had started wearing the first kimono he had ever given her again. She told Kagome that it was because the color matched the trees, but being as poor a liar as the girl was, Kagome knew it was because she was missing Sesshomaru. Poor kid.

* * *

The younger men followed the elder to the patch of earth disrupted by the recent landslide. The man told the pair that long ago, a Miko had sealed a demon in the mound. It was about fifty or sixty years ago, they were told. Miroku and Inuyasha shared a knowing look, and it wasn't long before Inuyasha dug up a white-feathered arrow. Longer and thicker than most arrows, the projectile stirred up an ache Inuyasha had scantly forgotten as he absently rubbed the center of his chest. His wife had no arrows of this type.

Miroku examined the place the demon had emerged from when they had fought it, seemingly vanishing without a trace. It left a bad taste in his mouth—the disappearance, the arrow. Explaining his concerns to Inuyasha, the hanyou got the point and they hurried for home. Upon arrival, Kagome greeted Inuyasha happily, asking how things went with the job. He looked up at her at the sound of her voice, his mind elsewhere. He paused as he looked over her, head to toe and back up. Kagome's face dropped when he asked her to spend the night with Sango.

"Why?" she asked, suspiciously.

"I'm probably gonna be out late, and I don't want you to be home alone." Kagome hesitated. She had been left at home alone on many occasions, why should tonight be any different? She scanned over Inuyasha's face. He seemed…grim, maybe? Whatever it was, Kagome saw that he was serious about his request, and she obliged, heading over to the house of her friend.

* * *

"They just headed straight to Kaede's, huh? I wonder what's going on?" Sango said, cleaning the little bit of food off Ichiro's chin. She cradled him gently as she looked back up to her friend. Kagome looked deep in thought, knuckle to her lip.

"Well it's gotta be something they don't want us hearing," Shippo piped up. Rin nodded in agreeance.

"Even I was told to stay with Sango," she said as she twisted the end of the grass rope she was making. Kagome glanced over to the girl. If even Rin was told to leave then it must be serious…

Kagome's eyes widened with a spark of demonic energy lit up her senses. It was approaching quickly. She spun in her seat as Sango's door began to rattle.

"Oh, Inuyasha and Miroku are back!" Rin declared. She started to stand, if they were back that meant she could go back to Kaede's.

"No, it's not them!" Kagome stuck out a hand protectively guarding the girl from moving any further. Kagome instinctively reached her other hand back to her quiver—**her quiver!** Damn! It and her bow were propped next to the door! Could she reach them before—?

She didn't have time to finish that thought as the doors were broken off their tracks and thick roots burst into the room. A bulbous eye opened from one of the clusters of roots. Red and wide, the pupil scanned the room as Kagome thought of how to get to her bow. There were children here! She had to protect them somehow. The eye stopped on the black-haired Miko and Kagome froze, seeing her image reflected in the red eye.

"**Kikyo!**" Kagome bristled at the familiar name. Did…did this thing believe she was Kikyo?

"**You have the Shikon no Tama…**" Kagome mentally swore. She thought she was done with this!

"**You will give the jewel to meee…**" Kagome couldn't even back away as the thing charged at her, a mass of gnarled roots and that single bulging eye. She caught the familiar sound of winds whistling past. She heard her friend shout something and she ducked on instinct, the Hiraikoustu whipping past and slamming hard into the demon. Bits of broken root and wood shards flew everywhere. Kagome was vaguely aware of the shrieks of an infant as the mother ran past the Miko.

"Sango!" came the shout of a young father as he came into view over the hill. A figure in red flew past the man as his own shout for his wife came as he saw the look in her eyes through the broken door. His golden eyes shifted. He caught the movement of the demon as it retreated away. He snarled as he drew his sword, diving after the demon.

"No you don't!" He shouted as he slammed the Tessaiga down with the force to shatter the hard-packed earth and send it flying over his head. He searched the crater for any traces of the beast. Running footfalls came behind him and he flung his head around to meet his wife's eyes.

"Kagome, are you alright?" he asked, shaking the clumps of hard earth from his clothes. She indicated she was but…

"It…it called me Kikyo," she explained. Her eyes were wide with adrenaline, and his widened slightly as well. He nodded once, and Kagome squinted at that. It was almost as if he…wasn't surprised to hear that?

"Are you hiding something, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha nearly sputtered at the fox's illusion, taking on the appearance of his wife, but knocked him over the head for the nasty trick. She was standing right in front of him, and this was no time for kitsune tricks. Though, as Kagome blinked, she had to wonder…if this demon had anything to do with Kikyo, could that be the reason he sent her to Sango's? Because he didn't want her to know? Or did he know it would come into the village?

Miroku informed the pair that since the thing, the Ne no Kubi, was after Kagome now, it would be a bigger problem. Kagome gasped. If…if it was actually after her, then that meant the whole village was in danger. Kagome climbed onto Inuyasha's back, and the pair ran towards where the thing was currently wreaking havoc on the village.

With a barrage of arrows and Tessaiga strikes the pair kept on fighting the roots, but more kept coming. Kagome knew they were only fighting the very edges of the beast, there had to be a base to it. When a white-feathered arrow flew overhead and struck the earth, Kagome saw the ground move. She didn't question the arrow.

"Over there!" she indicated.

"Where?"

Shit. It was moving too fast, if Inuyasha didn't notice it…she leapt from her husband's back and raced after the moving ground until it was directly underfoot, and she started to draw an arrow. Suddenly, the ground opened up, revealing a mass of razor-sharp teeth.

Inuyasha's pounding heart tightened in his chest. Before his next heartbeat he kicked off the earth and dove for his wife. He was _not_ going to lose her now. He clutched her tightly to his chest as the rows of teeth snapped shut. He crashed into the earth, landing hard on his heels. A loud rumbling roared up behind him and he spun to lay witness to the colossus rising from the ground, towering above the tallest houses in the village. It was a mass of twisted roots, dozens of bulging eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and the skulls of the thing's victims that Inuyasha looked upon. He took one more glance down at his wife. She could have ended up one of those skulls.

"**Kikyo!**" the thing called out. "**I will swallow you, along with the jewel.**" Inuyasha's mouth twisted in a sneer as the jaws opened up wide once again. Tongues of roots emerged to twist around Inuyasha and his wife to draw them in. He felt his wife shift, her bow and arrow held out over his shoulder.

"I am not Kikyo!" She declared. "I am **Kagome!**"

'_That's my girl_,' Inuyasha grinned.

"And besides that," he started, drawing his Tessaiga once again. "The Shikon no Tama," he raised his sword, "don't even exist anymore!" Kagome let loose her arrow with Inuyasha's simultaneous Windscar, tearing through the beast with vicious blades and power that ultimately decimated it. It fell in lifeless pieces to the ground, splintering like glass upon contact. Inuyasha took a moment to take a deep breath before he stood and spun towards his wife.

"What the hell were you thinking, Kagome?" his mouth almost dropped open when she stared back dumbly. "You nearly got yourself eaten by that thing!"

Kagome opened her mouth to speak then closed it with a soft smile. How the hell was she smiling?

"Well, you were right there. I knew you'd save me if need be."

IF. NEED. BE?

"Well duh! But that doesn't mean you can just—"

"Oh, Inuyasha…" she interrupted. She still held that same sweet smile up to him. "I trust you. I trust that..." she looked off forlornly for a moment, then sighed. "You know…about Kikyo? I…" her eyes drifted to the ground before her. "I don't want you to hide anything, just because you think it might spare my feelings or anything, after all—" she almost didn't hear him mutter the next words.

"So, you're not mad?" His voice was so small, so unlike the man she knew. Unlike the hanyou man she loved so much. He was looking away from her, somewhere far off. He wasn't even looking at the ground, he was staring through the ground, all wound up in his own thoughts. Kagome sighed.

"Well no…but…" he wasn't even listening. What was he thinking, anyway? Kagome realized then, exactly what he was thinking. He thought she was lying about how _she_ felt.

"Osuwari." Her voice was firm, and she closed her eyes when he came crashing to the earth. She crouched down to his level, waiting for the spell to lesson. His eyes were confused when he lifted his head, but without the usual annoyance or anger. Kagome could see that at least now, she had his attention. She offered a soft smile and her hand, which he took gently. She lifted him out of the crater to sit beside it.

"You really need to trust me more." She saw his mouth open and close, searching for words, protests maybe, but no sound came out. She stood, once again offering her hand. When he stood, staring down at her bewilderedly, she twined their fingers. She held their hands up for him to see, giving his hand a squeeze as she did so. He squinted, unsure of what she was doing before she spoke.

"Inuyasha, I love you," she said softly. Her eyes scanned his face, and he never took his eyes off her beautiful brown ones. The sun was rising and his eyes looked so lovely in the light.

"But I think we need to have a talk."

* * *

Miroku and Sango watched the pair wonder away from the site. They moved onto a grassy hill, where Kagome sat, patting the earth next to her. Miroku smiled. This was something he had gotten used to on the road years ago, and something that, despite the torment they had all been feeling at the time, stirred up warm feelings of back then. He watched the couple start to speak, calmly, softly, and the monk sighed.

"How nostalgic this seems." Sango nodded in agreeance, having watched the pair as well.

"Come on, the kids will be waiting for us."

* * *

"And why did you think that would bother me, Inuyasha?"

The hanyou fell into the grass, tucking his hands behind his head and scowling.

"I dunno I just...Didn't think you'd wanna hear about Kikyo is all."

Kagome sighed. She didn't hate the woman, but besides that at the heart of the issue, this wasn't even about Kikyo. It was about the demon that Kikyo had sealed. No, it was deeper than that. Kagome just wanted her husband to stop keeping things from her. She wasn't a jealous little girl anymore, and he shouldn't feel the need to keep information from her to spare her feelings. Lying by omission was still lying, and a relationship like theirs needed absolute honesty.

"And trust," she explained. Inuyasha stared at her for a moment before turning away dejectedly. A butterfly caught his eye and he watched it for a moment before she laid a hand on his shoulder. She asked him to look at her. What he found were her eyes, strained and sleepless. She really wanted him to understand how serious she was.

"I want you to trust me," she said simply.

Inuyasha rose back up with a huff.

"I do trust you! I trust you with my life, Kagome!" Kagome shook her head.

"Trust me with your honesty then. Don't keep anything from me. If you think I'm getting fat, or I smell bad-I want you to tell me. If Miroku tells you something dirty and I ask what it was, tell me." Kagome sighed as her gaze broke from his for just a moment before she returned it.

"Even if it's something about Kikyo, tell me about it."

Inuyasha growled, looking at the sky.

"It's more complicated than that, _wife_," he scoffed. Kagome sneered despite herself. It was the first time he had used that term to call her that, but the effect was ruined by the tone of voice he used. It almost sounded like an insult. "If I trusted you to take care of yourself, you'd have gotten yourself killed. How am I supposed to live with that, _wife_?"

He said it again. She didn't want to hate that word, but the way he was saying it...

"If I tell you you're getting fat, you'll probably hit me," he diverted.

"Inuyasha, please. Tell me you'll trust me." He ran a clawed hand through his hair, pushing it from his forehead. He looked back down to her. Why the hell was he even hesitating? Of course he trusted her, of course he wanted to be honest with her, and of course she deserved that much from him. Hell, she deserved a lot more than this, but if all he could offer was...

"I trust you," he told her.

* * *

...

* * *

So, in reading the Epilogue, I thought it was really weird that Inuyasha keeping something from Kagome (about Kikyo) was even an issue. It was six months since she arrived back, close to three years since the woman died, by now Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship should be very strong, and Inuyasha should not be keeping anything from Kagome, especially something like the demon having been sealed by Kikyo some indeterminate amount of time ago. I thought the 'sit' was really forced in the chapter, but the line "You need to trust me more" made more sense for the chapter. Kagome was probably a little confused about why Inuyasha would keep anything from her. Their relationship was built on trust, and Inuyasha would be a fool for not having more trust in Kagome. The trust to be completely honest with your spouse, and not keep anything from them.


	21. Wistful

**Wistful**

"Was anything else damaged?" Kagome asked of the woman as she surveyed the broken wall of the structure.

"Ah, good news there. It doesn't look like it," replied the husband as he stood back with his hands on his hips.

"I'm just glad no one was hurt," added the wife as she looked around the area. Kagome sighed and stroked the hair of the sleeping boy she held on her hip.

"Have you got anyone to stay with while we work on repairing your house?" Winter would be coming sooner than one might think. The man gestured in the direction of the rice paddies, indicating he had a brother that lived on the other end of the village. She watched them pack a few items before handing the child off to his mother. The couple and their boy left off towards their relative's house, so Kagome wondered back through the rest of the village, seeing if anyone else needed help.

Other than a few scrapes, the populace of the village had escaped unharmed. The rest of the property damage was minor; broken doors, smashed gardens, and wood splinters littering the ground. Two houses had holes around the doors, and would need major repairs. As Kagome ran back and forth between the rows and houses, she wondered why she had never noticed how large the village had become. She had seen a few families she did not recognize, but she had not noticed the general expanse of the village had gained a bit. Curious thing, the village growing after Naraku's defeat.

Inuyasha finally crept up behind Kagome as she applied a bit of medicine to a young boy's arm.

"Kagome-sama? Is it going to leave a scar?"

Kagome bit her cheek. The scrape hadn't been deep, but it was long enough that it would most likely leave something of a scar.

"Bah," Inuyasha scoffed, "if it does, you can tell everyone you're some tough guy—got it during a demon attack."

"But it happened when I fell running away," the boy pouted.

Inuyasha snorted. "Tch. Well you ain't gotta tell 'em that." The boy's father chuckled and Kagome pulled the boy's sleeve down. The man and boy wished Kagome well as she set off back down the road.

"So what's the damage report on Sango's house?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha fell into step beside her. He and Miroku had managed to get both doors back on their tracks, but one was busted and holding with a temporary fix. They would need to replace that one, but they could hold off for a few days, since some of the other houses were more badly damaged. Which brought up another suggestion.

"We should put a better door on the house," Inuyasha commented, almost absentmindedly as his head weaved, looking about the village. A few of the houses had sliding doors, as well.

"What's wrong with our door?"

"Hm?" Inuyasha blinked at the question. "Well, it's more of a doorway than a door..." He scratched the back of his head, continuing, "It'll be gettin' cold soon. Get pretty drafty, you know."

"Well...I suppose, but we're hardly at home when we're not sleeping or eating, I should think we'd just wrap up in blankets when we're home." She didn't hear Inuyasha's muttered 'and there's another thing.' Some people he knew, and knew well, didn't understand the concept of knocking. He thought back to the morning previous. He had no doubt Miroku wouldn't have just barged in on his sleeping friends if he thought the matter was urgent enough. Well, maybe not, but he would rather not chance it. What if a villager couldn't find Kaede and went up to Kagome instead? At least with a sliding door, he could have a fairer warning. Plus, winter was truly on its way.

"Do you think it's a good idea?" Kagome asked.

"Why would it be a bad idea?"

Most of the villagers kept the mats secured winter nights, and she really didn't want to differentiate herself too much from the rest of the village. She had had a hard enough time learning some of the vernacular, and having confused glances when she spoke differently. She really didn't want everyone to think she was so odd and different from them. Even having a different sort of door.

Different? Her? A Miko who married a dog hanyou? Well...

"Bah, don't worry about it. Me and Miroku put in their door, after the house was standin', we'll have no problem doin' the same for our place," Inuyasha went on, guessing incorrectly. Yes, well, Miroku and Sango did have a wooden door, themselves. Kagome touched a knuckle to her lip and eyed him curiously. He and Miroku did that? It was unsurprising, since he had done a good portion of work on his an Kagome's roof. Didn't grandpa have him fix the cupboard when the elderly man couldn't reach? Curious thing, thinking about Inuyasha taking care of these sorts of tasks. If he had lived in her old time, would he have made an handyman out of himself, fixing leaky pipes, sealing cracks in the tub surround, that sort of thing?

Wow, that was a weird thought.

Kagome shook her head and asked if he wanted to do that. He gave an affirmative grunt and she shrugged. What would it hurt. He could work on it only if he still felt like it _after_ they had the rest of the village cleaned up...only if he really felt up to it...

Inuyasha heard Kagome yawn and suggested she go sleep at home, where Sango and the kids were staying temporarily. Kagome shook her head. She had to head back to Kaede's house to return the unused cloth she had borrowed.

"Bah, it's just a few cuts here and there. Ain't nobody got hurt bad enough to need all that fussing," Inuyasha said, shaking his head.

"Inuyasha, infection is a killer in this era! You know that. You can't let a single papercut go unchecked."

"Yeah yeah." Inuyasha scratched the back of his head again. They parted ways after a while, him to help with repairs and Kagome to head back to Kaede's house and the shrine. Kagome patted her face when she stumbled on the path…maybe a nap wouldn't hurt. She stretched her arms over her head to look at the clouds when she caught the unexpected view of her brother-in-law quickly shrinking away from view. When had Sesshomaru gotten here? She rounded the bend to Kaede's house when she heard talking.

Rin's voice…and…an unfamiliar man's voice?

"I guess I had better be going too," the man said. Kagome crept along the bushes to the back corner of the hut.

"Ah, you really don't like it here, do you?" Rin asked. She almost sounded downtrodden. Kagome got a little closer to the front of the hut. She crouched low and poked her head around just enough to see the two figures standing near the far corner of the hut. One was Rin, in her orange kimono, and the other…was Kohaku? Where was the man that had been talking just a few seconds ago? Kohaku blushed and opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, I wouldn't mind as much but…I always get put on babysitting duty, and, well…"

Kagome blinked in disbelief. That voice belonged to _Kohaku_? That-that deep voice? Well, it wasn't exactly a baritone, but it didn't match the little boy it came from, and it certainly wasn't what Kagome remembered his voice sounding like. Wow, puberty did strange things to kids. Although, the hormones didn't seem to effect his growth any. Rin was small, four years his junior, and came up to his nose. Poor kid would have a hard time getting a girlfriend if he lived in Kagome's time.

"You don't like kids?"

"Well, I…" Kohaku rubbed the back of his neck. "Not really…"

"Oh. That's… When you get married you'll have to learn to like them, won't you?" Rin asked, clasping her hands behind her head…_had she learned that from Inuyasha?_

Kohaku's hand froze on his neck as his eyes widened. He blinked rapidly before glancing away, an expression one step down from a trapped animal, looking to escape the conversation, suddenly.

"I-I really don't think-"

"You were a kid not that long ago, how come you don't like kids?"

"What? I'm sixteen this coming spring. I haven't been a kid for a while," Kohaku declared, dropping his hand away from his neck.

Rin shrugged.

"Well, maybe, but I was a kid, and you never had a problem with me." Kohaku's lips pursed.

"You're still a kid," he said, shrugging. Rin frowned, glaring off somewhere. She _was_ still a kid. Getting bossed around like she often was, only without the fun of playing with other children from time to time. She shook her head with a sigh.

"Besides, we were both kids, I had time...to get used to you…" Kohaku trailed off. He took a deep breath before calling for Kirara. The cat trotted out in front of the boy, transforming for him to climb on.

"We really should get going," he said as he got settled on top of Kirara. Rin dashed in front of the cat.

"But visit soon, okay? Your sister misses you." She paused. "I miss you, too."

Kohaku cocked his head to the side.

"What?"

"I'm glad Lord Sesshomaru visits, but seeing you really reminds me of the old days…when we were both kids. It makes me really happy."

Kohaku blinked. "Uh…I'll come to visit my sister soon, and I'll visit with you too…"

Rin nodded, content with that answer. She scratched Kirara behind the ears before letting them take off into the air. Kagome stood after a second, taking a deep breath before making her presence known.

"Oh, I just missed them, didn't I?"

Rin nodded, but just kept on watching Kohaku and Kirara getting further and further away. She came up next to the girl, looking over her face carefully. Wistful? Kagome stared on even after the young girl felt her gaze, turning her eyes up to the young Miko.

"What?" She squawked with sideways grimace. Kagome waved her hand at her.

"Oh nothing, it's nothing…um…Sesshomaru was here as well?" She quickly countered.

Rin's expression dropped out of accusing and more into annoyance as she sighed. He had been here, but he hadn't stayed long, loitering about the roof of Sango's house as he stared off into the valley. When Sango returned he accompanied Rin and Kohaku back to Kaede's house.

"He made us wait inside while he talked with Kaede about something, then Kaede left, then he left." The girl sighed. "I guess he just wanted to make sure everyone was okay here."

Kagome blinked. '_Probably not everyone…_' Kagome kept her thoughts to herself.

"Well, at least you got to see him."

Rin nodded. "Yeah, him and Kohaku must be really busy nowadays. Kohaku visits even less than Lord Sesshomaru. Have you talked to Sango?" Rin giggled suddenly. "She said she only makes him hold the baby to make sure he doesn't take off without telling her when he does visit—so he'll stay longer. I wonder if that's having the opposite effect?"

Even with such a short visit, Kagome was glad to see that Rin was in a much better mood. While Kagome was putting things away, Kaede returned to the hut, surprised that Kagome had already checked the expanse of the village for injury and damage. Everywhere Kaede had gone, Kagome had already visited. Ah, youth. Kaede was quick to send Kagome up to the shrine to check for damage as well, and also to make sure it was cleansed and proper, just in case.

* * *

'_Oh no,'_ Kagome thought as she spotted her husband in the distance. He was standing before one of the damaged homes with an older man, making gestures with a scowl on his face. The man started making gestures over to the damaged home as well, arguing his side. Inuyasha put a hand to his hip and shook his head, glaring in the direction of the house as he argued in return.

Kagome sped her gait so that she might race into the middle of the argument before things got much worse. The man crossed his arms over his chest…then both men broke into laughter. Kagome stopped, squinting in confusion. Inuyasha gestured back to the house, nodding before turning to say a word to the man when he caught sight of Kagome. The older man turned his head to see what had distracted the hanyou mid-sentence. He gave a brief wave to Kagome, taking a half-step to the side. Kagome cautiously approached the men, only catching the last few words of the conversation.

"Yeah, use what you already have, first, but I'll get a tree down to replace what we use, it'll take a bit before the wood dries out with the recent weather," Inuyasha gave.

"So then that's that," the older man nodded, crossing his arms. He looked over to the Miko, guessing she had something to ask her husband by the way she was waiting with her hands clasped together. Kagome blinked and finally asked if Inuyasha wanted lunch, since Kaede was offering. Inuyasha shrugged, telling the man he'd come back after he ate.

* * *

Kagome was quiet when her husband told her he wouldn't be home for dinner that night. He and the village men wanted to get as much work done as quickly as possible, even if that meant working late into the night. The men all had work in the fields, and would like to return to that quickly, but it was understandably difficult when you had an unkempt house. The man Inuyasha had been speaking with earlier happened to have a bit of lumber stored under his house, and was offering it up for repairs. The house he shared with his family had been one of the more severely damaged, but there was probably enough for all the minor repairs for most of the houses in the village.

It didn't really dawn on her how significant this was until she was walking home alone in the near-twilight that...she couldn't explain it. She could tell that Inuyasha still felt like the odd one out most of the time. He wouldn't engage the village men in conversation, and they wouldn't talk to him either, unless they needed something done around the place. She had started noticing the wide berth the men gave him when he walked about the village only recently, and it annoyed her, but Inuyasha never seemed to notice. The women were nicer, sometimes asking him in passing if the weather was going to change, or if the mushrooms were up in the forest. Inuyasha gave 'Yeah' or 'Nah' as a reply, which seemed sufficient for the women. Always short conversations, never like the ones Kagome frequently found herself in. Not that she minded, the conversations were always pleasant, and she had learned at least one good recipe she wanted to try from the chats.

Again, no one seemed to talk with her husband. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Inuyasha did usually keep to himself, after all. She supposed, with the expression he wore all the time, he might seem unapproachable to begin with. Even when the moon appeared absent, that halfway-annoyed expression was ever-present.

As she watched the men working from afar, she spotted her husband with his sleeves tied behind his back. He was working with the man who owned one of the more-damaged houses, hammering planks into place. The man said something to Inuyasha, and he tossed a new plank over to the man, and they worked in what Kagome could only assume was silence. Like any of the other men making repairs. Right after Inuyasha's revival, no one would think to get so close to him, or turn their backs on him, but now they didn't seem bothered to care. He wasn't a stranger, and he certainly wasn't a monster. They weren't scared and they weren't angry, like they had once been...This was really something.

A cool wind stirred Kagome's hair and goosebumps rose on her skin. She turned into the wind as it howled across the hill, the pitch changing as it brushed through the trees and the yellowing leaves. It almost sounded like a voice whispering...or even calling out for something-someone... Yes, the wind does that, sometimes. She stared on for a second more, watching a number of leaves departing the branches to float a ways, before landing softly on the ground. She bent to lift one. She twirled it by the stem and her eyes went fuzzy-her expression wistful... the breeze swept through again and the beautiful young woman closed her eyes to meet it, shivering only slightly as it tugged on her clothes. She opened her eyes when the breeze passed, and she knew the direction she was looking.

She tossed the leaf up in the air. Her eyes fell upon the village again - her husband. He was no stranger to the ways of the village, Kagome shouldn't be either, but sometimes...sometimes she felt like...

_'Oh, it doesn't matter_,' she thought. She belonged here.

* * *

...

* * *

I don't actually have a comment for this chapter, how rare...I lied. Next chapter should be more fluffy stuff.


	22. Atmospheric Changes

**Atmospheric Changes**

"I'm glad to hear it," Inuyasha's mother-in law said with a smile. Kagome saw her husband fight to keep a smile off his face as he turned his head back towards his wife. Kagome ignored him to stare out the window. How lovely it was this time of year with the bite in the air and the leaves turned to their oranges and yellows and reds. Souta's birthday fell during the most beautiful time of year.

Kagome couldn't believe it, when he had started his first year of middle school, and now he was turning thirteen! Wow, how much things had changed. How much things _had_ changed. She had finally saved up to get Souta the game he had been wanting, and…

"Go on, open it, open it!" Kagome's grandfather smiled jubilantly at his young grandson, sitting with the small box in his hands. He smiled back until lifted the lid of the box and pulled what looked to be large dried fish scale from the box.

"Um…thanks…" Souta grimaced, returning the item to the box.

"Oh, well don't turn your nose up at it so soon! That is a dragon scale, presented to our family three hundred years ago after the long battle between—"

"Father, I think that's enough of the old stories." A smiling man shook his head. He then pointed over to the young couple at then end of the table. "We need to get to dinner before dark, Kagome and…uh…" he trailed off. He could not remember the young man's name.

"Son-in-law? I don't think we've been properly introduced." Kagome frowned at this. Surely her fathr had met Inuyasha before. Grandpa, mama, and Souta had met him on numerous occasions. She couldn't imagine why he had never met Inuyasha.

Wait.

Daddy was…

"Kagome?" Her husband laid a hand on her shoulder, peering over at her with worry on his face. Kagome looked over her family, and they all seemed to be engaged in conversation. The only one aware of her sudden panic was her husband.

"Kagome," he whispered this time, only a few inches from her face, concern in his tone.

"Kagome…

...

* * *

...

"Kagome?" Inuyasha said, gently rubbing his sleeping wife's arm. She finally roused then, rolling onto her back and rubbing her eyes. Inuyasha sat up to look down at her. He looked over her thoroughly before asking what the hell kind of dream she was having. It sounded like she was being chased by something.

"No, it was just a regular dream, Inuyasha. Sorry if I woke you up." He scantly believed that, but with a groan, she threw an arm over his hips and pushed her face into his torso.

"Inuyasha, I'm tired," she whined, "let's go back to sleep." He threw her a suspicious look before he blew it off and laid back down. Kagome sighed and pushed her forehead against his chest. She tried not to think about it, but Inuyasha was right, in a way. She was being chased. The thoughts she had tried to push down since she returned here had been invading her mind more and more as of late. She was being chased by the reality of the situation.

She had…the rest of her family was just like her dad…they were still alive and well, but she would never be able to…had she…?

* * *

"Damn," Inuyasha swore as his friend came up to him, shrugging.

"Well, it isn't the first time we've come up empty-handed," Miroku said with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha mumbled. Sometimes they came out looking for rumors, and often they never panned out, but recently they had been coming up with job opportunities every time they went out looking. It was as if since Miroku's boy had been born, and Kagome had come back, that their luck was changing. It wasn't a tragedy that this one trip didn't work out, but it was disheartening nonetheless—their lucky streak had been broken.

However, going out, they weren't expecting much. Missing chickens? Minor damage to crops? A pair of mortal foxes were killed sneaking into a chicken coop and all the minor troubles seemed to disappear. No demonic troubles afoot, just mortal vermin acting like vermin. Of course it still left the monk and hanyou a distance from home without anything to show for it.

Winter was setting in with the leaves frosting in the mornings, and with an additional mouth to feed this cold season Miroku would chase every rumor he could afford. Inuyasha wasn't as worried, but he was still annoyed with taking time away from his wife for no reason. The hanyou and wife had returned all of the items they borrowed, but there were still a few things they needed to buy. Like an axe. He always tried to leave Kagome with plenty of firewood, but she still used Sango's axe to cut the wood into smaller pieces. He recalled the trips he made last year that kept him and Miroku away for weeks. Ideally Kohaku would take on the further trips, but it was during that time Kohaku was busy elsewhere.

Inuyasha swallowed thickly at the thought of leaving Kagome for that long. Would she be okay? She joked that she would survive, but something didn't sit well with him. He was hesitant about leaving her this morning, even, because of how she had been acting these last few days. She was quieter that she usually was, sometimes staring off into space. It was freaking him out, but when he asked, she merely replied that she liked the fall. It was pretty when all the leaves were different colors, she told him. He had believed that at the time, but last night she had been more fitful in her sleep than usual. He really wished he had asked what that dream was, because now he was really regretting not asking, leaving her alone like that.

He had been on that trip for a week early on, and he had been on edge the last few days of it. The moment he returned to the village he caught his wife's scent, and he wanted to go to her desperately, but he was dog tired. He knew if he held her and clung to her like _he_ wanted to, _she_'d have wanted something more. He wasn't going to break the promise of having the house built…and he also wasn't going to embarrass himself by falling asleep midway. What would she think of him if _that_ happened? He had steered himself for Kaede's house, figuring a better option than seeking out Kagome himself.

"…eer-hunting trip? I know it's a little early, but Sango's…Inuyasha, are you listening?"

"Wha?" Inuyasha blinked, not having realized his friend was taking to him.

Miroku squinted in disbelief before shaking his head. He should be used to this by now. He shook Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Ah, just a little ways more, my friend. We'll be out of the cold and in the company of our families. Maybe you pay attention a bit better with a full belly?" He joked. The hanyou shrugged the monk's hand off his shoulder and sent him a glare. He paid attention fine most of the time. Like right now, at the divergence of two paths.

"Actually, Monk, I'm gonna head this way," he said, stepping off the road that normally took them home. "Kagome should be in the west village most of today."

"Oh," Miroku started, "you didn't choose to accompany her?"

"Bah, she can handle herself. Made that clear a while ago."

"Did she?" Miroku smiled. He had heard from Sango what Kagome and husband had discussed on that hill. He waved as Inuyasha separated from himself.

* * *

She had finished up early, Ranko's "check-up" having gone remarkably well. The last time, Kagome had given her a little advice from what she had learned directly from a textbook. It seemed to work well for the woman. Maybe she had learned something useful in high school, after all?

With the quiet walk home, Kagome was left to her thoughts. She stared down at the fallen leaves as she walked, looking for any crunchy ones she might like to step on. It was a game she used to play as a child, trying to find the crunchiest leaf possible. The louder the crunch, the better. She loved playing in the leaves, sometimes collecting different colors of them and arranging them in pictures. Her brother loved this time of year as well, when he could play the crunchy leaf game with Kagome and also because his birthday was…

She didn't have the option to play the leaf game anymore. Not with him. She hadn't played it in years so she she shouldn't miss it…but just not having the option to—she had a choice taken away from her… She stopped to take a deep breath. No. She had made the choice to come here. Nothing was taken from her that she didn't freely give, the choice to play with her brother included. She swallowed down any invasive thoughts and continued on.

She heard a small crunch behind her. She heard a scuff follow. The Miko didn't stop or speed her pace, but she slowly slid her bow down her arm. Her right hand reached behind for an arrow when she heard quick footsteps behind her. She sensed no demonic aura…The footsteps were getting closer. She gauged the distance between her and the village. She was almost past the trees that lead into the fields. It was probably nothing, she told herself—a rabbit perhaps—but she nocked her arrow nonetheless and spun to face whatever was following her. She instantly giggled and lowered her weapon.

"Well hi there, cutie," she told the little reddish pup that hesitantly approached. She scanned the woods around her, wondering where the little dog had come from. She pointed in a random direction, as she did with all neighborhood dogs that got out of their yards in her old era.

"You need to go home," she told the dog. It just started to wag its tail and came within an arm's length of Kagome, looking up at her.

"Go home," she said more firmly. The dog's position didn't change. Kagome slowly backed away from the dog.

"Go on, get!" This time the dog hunched down for a second at the alarming tone of Kagome's voice, then came back up with tail continuing to wag. Kagome chuckled, then turned on her heel. Eventually the pup would lose interest and wonder back home. She really should get back to the village.

* * *

When he passed though the village looking for his wife, her scent wasn't as strong as it should be, so either she had been inside one of these houses for a long while, or she had already left for home. He supposed she could have, since it was getting dark already, and she probably wanted to leave before then, he hadn't thought of that until now. She could have started out in the morning. Kagome would probably sleep in until noon if he let her, so that was what he expected when he left before waking her.

Some of these folks he had met before, and they all knew who he was—Inuyasha of the forest—but that didn't stop the apprehensive stares he got from the people as he walked about, trying to sniff out which house she might be in. When he heard a woman shushing her crying child, worried over the demon, he was finally annoyed enough to take off out of there. So much for trying to walk home with his wife.

He could smell Kagome's scent on the path, but he couldn't be sure if that was from her coming or going. He would just have to wait for her at home. He should have just stuck with Miroku the entire way, instead of going the route that would leave him with a headache. As he meandered through the forest, he caught a glimpse of a pheasant struggling to get up to roost, and it was too good to pass up. Even if he couldn't come home with anything from the trip, he may as well get some meat for dinner.

* * *

"What the hell is that, Kagome?" Inuyasha snarled, never taking his eyes from the reddish-tan animal. Kagome set a hand on her hip.

"Stop growling at the poor thing, you're scaring him!" Kagome dropped down and wrapped her arms around the little dog. Inuyasha stood straighter as his growl fizzled out. His glare turned towards his wife as she stroked the dog and got it to stop growling.

"Hell no. Take that thing back wherever it came from," Inuyasha demanded.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome stood, lifting the small dog into her arms without its protest. The dog rolled its head around to look back at the woman holding it. "He's so well behaved, see? And besides, I don't know where they came from, but they've been following me all day…and eventually they let me pet them and…well, he followed me right in the house…"

Inuyasha's stern expression didn't waver. Kagome set her chin on the little dog's head.

"Aren't they cute, Inuyasha?"

"Hell no, that thing's filthy! I don't want it in the house," he argued.

"His paws are cleaner than your feet," Kagome muttered. "How can you saw no to this little face?"

"I _hate_ dogs." Kagome's face head lifted from the dog's with confusion.

"Really?" She asked dubiously. "_You_ hate _dogs?_" Inuyasha's face screwed into a deeper scowl. No way was she comparing him to a…well…he was part dog demon, but the 'demon' part was the focus! He was not a fucking dog!

"Don't you look at me like that. We're not keeping the dog."

Her dubious expression fell. Inuyasha felt his heart thud once as he realized that her expression was now…she had been so somber lately. They had not had a real back-and-forth conversation in days, between how busy they were, and how quiet she was. He wanted desperately to know what was wrong with her, but he was bad with words and he didn't know how to ask properly, even though Sango had mentioned it to him as well. He scowled at the opposite wall.

"Inuyasha," she said at last, a soft huff in her words, "come on, we can't just—"

"Fine!" Inuyasha growled finally. He sat on the raised floor to brush his feet off. There was a moment of silence that stretched between husband and wife, allowing her time to notice the strain in his expression. Even the dog had quieted down. She set the dog on the floor, taking hesitant steps towards her husband. He closed his eyes as she came near. His arms jerked slightly as gentle fingertips came to rest on his crossed forearms.

"I was…if I knew it would bother you so much, I wouldn't have suggested it. We don't have to keep the dog, I'm not exactly attached to it yet. I'm sure we can find someone who can take it." She tried to sound nonchalant. She really couldn't have gotten attached to it so soon, could she?

"It's not the dog…not _just_ the dog." He eyed her carefully. How would he start on this? He hadn't had a great day himself so…maybe if he diverted. He tugged her arm to let her know to sit beside him.

"The trip was a bust."

Kagome sighed.

"It's just one trip. I'm sure there will be others, so—"

"it's not that either, it's just lately we've both been kind of… well, we've…" Kagome was looking at him. She was listening intently. She had been spacing out a lot lately, and Inuyasha was distracted for a moment…until the dog felt ignored and came trotting over to Kagome. It hopped up, putting both front paws on Kagome's shoulder, trying to lick the woman's face and get her attention.

"Down, down. Get off me," she chastised. Suddenly the dog was out of her face, and her husband's arm was out of her grasp. The pup whimpered from Inuyasha's hold on its scruff until he brought it up level with his face and stared it down.

"Inuyasha, please put him down!"

"She's fine." Inuyasha gave the dog one more glare before he set it back on the floor. The dog only took a few steps away from Inuyasha before it turned to examine the big red animal that stood before the nicer one. Kagome looked over to make sure the dog was okay, if not frightened of her husband.

"Look, I ain't mad or nothin', but, well…" he took a step back, leaning his shoulders against the wall once more. "We were on a lucky streak I guess." He could barely remember what he originally wanted to say.

"Oh…Is this the first time…"

"Since you've been back, and since Miroku's boy was born. It's not like we go out often, but you know."

"I'm not disappointed, Inuyasha." That only earned a glare and a scoff from her husband. Not her intended effect.

"Hell, I knew you wouldn't be disappointed. You _shouldn't_ be disappointed—"

"And neither should you." Inuyasha's glare softened, only just. She was smiling at him.

"And about the dog," he started, walking towards the dog. The dog—brave thing—didn't try to run, but merely hunkered down as Inuyasha's hand stretched towards it. Kagome became nervous when Inuyasha reached for the dog's scruff again.

"It's somebody's pet already." He parted the thick fur and pulled the collar away from the skin. Red and tan rope served as marking for ownership. Kagome touched her fingertips to her lips. She hadn't thought to look for a collar. That must be why it was so well-behaved and friendly. If it was someone's pet, why had it just followed her home like that? It wasn't as if she brought it with her, it followed on its own. It was just a pup, Inuyasha told her. They get distracted easily, like any kid.

"I know you had a cat, but you don't seem to know the first thing about dogs." Inuyasha left the dog's collar alone and stood back up. His pretty young wife wore a curious expression as she stared him down.

"And you do?"

"Yeah, I do," Inuyasha scoffed. "Like, this entire time, you've been calling it a 'he' but it's a female. Females are way more trouble than they're worth. She's still young, but the minute she goes into heat that first time, we'll have every mongrel this side of Musashi at our doorstep." He shook his head at his statement. "We have to find her master before then I guess."

* * *

"Aki? Aki, come here," Kagome ordered, pointing to the ground in front of her. She had given the dog a name, while she looked around for her owners—much to Inuyasha's dismay.

The Miko ordered the dog back again, but the shiba looked at her, wagged her curled tail and darted off into the forest. Kagome groaned and ran after the little dog. She chased Aki in circles around trees, over logs and deeper into the forest. The dog yipped and wagged her tail when Kagome finally propped herself against a tree. She was panting and laughing at herself for being bested by the fluffy critter when she finally noticed where the dog had lead her.

The wind blew out behind her, sending a chill up Kagome's spine. The dog trotted out into the clearing, unaware of the significance of the hill to the woman following behind. Kagome's breath was shaky as she clasped her hands together, staring—just staring—out to the small wooden structure in the center of the clearing. She had seen the old well hundreds of times—thousands—in her lifetime, why was it now that she was paralyzed looking upon it. Was it the dream? Was it the wind that seemed to pull her towards it?

Before Kagome realized it, she was stepping slowly towards the well. When she came next to it, she laid a hand on the wood, and she wondered why she was here again. Of all the times she had seen this well, none of them had been within the last six or so months of her life—because she didn't need to anymore. She had waited, stared at it, hoped, so often before then that the well would accept her again and let her into this world. She was supposed to be happy, because this was where she belonged. Right here. She didn't need to hope or pray anymore because she had everything she asked for. Everything she had ever prayed for, as if the well were some sort of deity that could grant her wish. Unlike the Shikon jewel, this one had granted her wish—and with no side-effects.

At least she thought.

The first fifteen years of her life, she had only had passing glances to the well, and she had never been intrigued by it, unlike the following year, and the three after. And why? Because she was busy. Too busy to explore, and warned not to…by who? Her grandfather…her mother…

Sota wouldn't even go in the shelter, because he was afraid of the dark.

* * *

Why was Kagome all the way out here? She was supposed to be at the shrine all day today. He modified his route to check on his wife, noting the smell of dog as well. That damn thing was not house trained at all. Relieved itself wherever it happened to be at the time. Chewed on the shelves too. He had taken care of the hygiene issues like he had always learned to do; rubbing the dog's nose in it. Kagome chewed him out for it, but it worked for inside the house. The dog was smart to learn from only one time that outside was the only reasonable place to go. It caused a lot of frustration, but at least Kagome seemed to be in better spirits. More talkative, though Inuyasha didn't know how much conversation he really could participate in.

He paused briefly, noticing the direction he was walking. Towards…the well? What was she doing out here?

He spotted her…exactly where he thought she would be. She was leaning up against the wood with her knees pulled to her chest. She lifted her head when she noticed him, then scrambling to her feet and brushing herself off.

"I…I was just." She swallowed roughly, flapping her sleeves behind herself. "It's uh—" she cleared her throat, "It's still here I guess…"

Inuyasha slowly walked towards his wife and the well. Kagome spun around laying both hands on the lip. His heart was pounding. Why was she out here? Suddenly…her behavior the past week. She was…

But her home was with him. She had told him that so many months ago, and he still believed her but…

"Yep, good…good and sturdy." She kicked the well for added effect. "Wh-whoever fixed it the last time did a good job of it." Inuyasha paused when she ended on that, an arm's length from the well.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Kagome's voice was small. Inuyasha's heart fell into his stomach when he heard the first sniffle and smelled the salt of her tears. She spun around and threw herself against him, fists balled into his clothes. He just stood there, unsure of what to…he had never been good with crying women. Least of all, Kagome. How did he use to deal with this? She was his wife, so he had to do something. It was just...this was the first time he had seen her cry since they were married!

"Say something," Kagome begged him. Say what? Inuyasha had no clue what to say. He finally brought his arms around her back and squeezed her to him. He looked over her shoulder to the well below. He wasn't stupid. He knew the well itself wasn't the reason she reacted violently, it was what lay beyond it. She had a family back there, safe and whole, that she could never return to.

"What do I say?" He asked, pressing his cheek against hers.

"Anything."

"…I'm sorry…" he mumbled after a second. Kagome turned her face away from his, pushing against his chest to loosen his grip. He did, but only enough to see her face as she shook her head at him.

"Don't be sorry," she sniffed, wiping one eye on her wrist. "I'm sorry."

"What've you got to be sorry about?" He asked, brows knit.

"I didn't mean to cry on you," she chuckled, wiping her other eye. He only tilted his head a little.

"Keh," was his only response.

"I shouldn't have come here…well…I guess…I didn't know I was going to start crying just seeing the old thing." Her voice was trembling, and Inuyasha feared she would start crying again.

"Are you…?" He asked. Kagome nodded to answer his unfinished question. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and tugged on Inuyasha's clothes. She wanted to go home. When Inuyasha didn't get the message, she sighed.

"I…this time of year is…Souta used to get really excited around now. When all the leaves would turn colors, he knew his birthday was coming up." Inuyasha's ears twitched as his brain worked to put together the pieces. That's why she'd been so quiet specifically during the past week. She was…reminded of home.

Well, it wasn't her home now. Her home was supposed to be with him. They were still a part of her family though. More than he was. He shouldn't feel jealous of her birth family. He knew he shouldn't but, he couldn't help the dread and annoyance and everything else that the past moments summoned in him. If she were any normal bride, she could visit her family from time to time, but since she decided to marry him, that simply wasn't possible. Marrying him meant cutting off all ties with her family. Marrying him meant her decision to leave her family was final. She wouldn't regret her decision…would she? She wasn't that kind of person.

Inuyasha turned his gaze to the well. It was her goddamned family. Of course. He _still_ missed his mother, and she had been gone from his life since he was a child. He had no choice in the matter, but it was the same thing, right?

"How old is he?" Inuyasha asked after a moment of thought. "I mean, how old would he be turning?"

Kagome smiled, wiping her eye.

"Thirteen. He'd be an official teenager this year…"she trailed off, taking a deep breath. "You woke me up the other night because you thought I was having a bad dream—"

"You said you weren't," he interrupted.

"And I wasn't. I was having a good dream...but when I woke up, I realized it was only a dream and…well…It was Souta's birthday, and everyone was there, and I had finally saved up enough to buy him that game he wanted but…It was just a dream."

"And," he felt that his mouth had gone dry, "you wanted it to be real. Do…do you wish you could have stayed on that side?"

Kagome's head jerked back to look Inuyasha in the eye. He was an idiot. He knew it the moment the words left his lips.

"No." She reached up and grabbed Inuyasha by the back of his head. She pulled him down to her level, so she could press her forehead against his. She made sure she had his attention, brown eyes staring up into gold, as she spoke the next words.

"When I say everyone was there, I mean... Grandpa, you, everyone. Even…even my dad, Inuyasha." She watched him blink as she gave the last person. Her father had passed away when Sota was barely old enough to remember him, and had been gone for years. Inuyasha had guessed that early on, since he smelled no trace of a man besides her grandfather in the home.

"If anything, I wish I could have both. Still get to travel between the two times, but I would never want to live without you. Without Sango, Miroku, Shippo, everyone on this side. I couldn't do that."

"Have you ever tried?" He asked, suddenly pulling his head back.

"Tried what?"

"To go through the well."

Kagome shook her head. No. She just knew it wouldn't work again. She could feel that it was just as dormant as it had been during her years in high school. It wouldn't work. And even if it did she wasn't going to chance it. What if it did work, but only that one last time? She would be separated from this world again, back to square one. She wouldn't chance losing Inuyasha again.

"Then hold onto me. We can jump together," he suggested, squeezing her back. He offered what he thought was a reassuring smile. To his surprise, she yanked herself away from him, out of his grasp, and several steps away. His smile fell. She had an almost panicked look in her eyes as she looked from him, to the well and back. She loosely clasped her hands together and took another step back. She was scared to try it. Scared.

Inuyasha knew to push the issue no further. He slowly walked next to Kagome, watching her body still further as he got closer. She really was scared.

"Well," he started, staring off down the hill, "You're supposed to be back down at the shrine, aren't you?"

Kagome blinked, then nodded.

"I was, until Aki decided to—Aki!" she suddenly had returned to her normal demeanor, searching around for any sign of the little dog.

"I'll walk you back to the shrine, then I'll go find the dog," he offered. As they started to walk, Inuyasha remembered what he had been wanting to say for days.

"You told me not to keep nothin' from you, but you've been doin' the same thing, not tellin' me you were homesick. You been all quiet and shit."

Kagome stopped walking. Inuyasha took two more steps before turning to look at his wife, surprised look on her face.

"H-have I?"

Inuyasha huffed.

"Yeah, kinda." He took the two steps to stand beside her again, shaking his head.

"You told me to let you know whatever's on my mind, well, the same thing goes for you, wife."

He called her that again. Not dismissively, not condescendingly…like he had just realized that's what she was to him. She was his family.

"Eh? K-Kagome? I-I didn't say nothin' to—" she felt confusion at his suddenly stiff posture until she felt a bead of moisture roll down her cheek. She was crying again.

"Oh Inuyasha, I'm alright," she said, mustering a smile. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed against his chest.

"You don't sound alright."

* * *

...

* * *

First off, don't do what Inuyasha does. There's probably better ways to house train a dog, but this is what I was taught (I've never owned a puppy btw).

Secondly, this chapter is a lot more somber than the last few, and it gets worse from here, though next chapter should have a good bit of fluff (and maybe smut, I haven't decided) to break any sort of mood. I barely have anything written for chapter 23, we'll see how that goes. Just because Inuyasha is now a part of Kagome's family, it doesn't mean she will miss her other members any less. She has him as her support, (and Sango, Miroku, Shippo, etc) but she still left her _family of 18 years_ behind.


	23. So Little Time

**So Little Time**

The slight clank of a kettle and the splash of water woke the sleeping young Miko. She blinked slowly, trying to reacquaint herself with the conscious world. It was still dark in the room, she noticed, but the nights were becoming longer as of late. It was colder too. She snuggled into the thick covers, realizing her favorite heat source had left her.

"Did I wake you?" came a quiet voice from behind her. She rolled over to shake her head where her husband could see it. He grunted in return, sitting back from the central fire. The warm light danced across his face, though the heat of it had not reached her yet.

"Although, I got chilled when you left the bed. It's really cold this morning, huh?"

"Keh, it's not that bad." He broke another stick to shove into the fire.

"Keh. There's tea if you're cold," he suggested, rubbing his thumb against his chin…it was there, he was sure of it.

Kagome shook her head.

"I'm not ready to get up yet. I'd rather you just come back to bed." With that, she scooted a ways back and held the blankets open for him to climb under. "Honestly, it's too early to be up anyway."

Inuyasha made a sour face, as if getting back in bed to serve as an extra heat source were some sort of chore. He made tea and everything. Then again, Kagome had been working hard as of late up at the shrine with the year's harvest festival. The festival itself had been delayed because of the damage done by the Ne no Kubi, but it went on as usual, a few days ago. He may as well let her stay in bed a little longer—even if she wanted him as extra warmth.

Inuyasha crawled in under the lifted covers and Kagome draped them over him before laying her own arms over her husband. '_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea_,' she thought. His clothing still held onto the chill of the outside air. She ducked one hand under the hem around her husband's collarbone and he swore with the touch. It was the hand she had been using to hold the blanket open briefly.

"Why are your hands always so cold?" he said, gripping her by the wrist. He wore an annoyed expression as he trapped her small hand between the two of hers.

"Yours aren't much better," Kagome commented on the cool temperature of his own hands. He muttered that he was outside, so at least he had an excuse as to why his hands were cold. He brought their hands to his mouth to warm them with his breath. Kagome shivered, though not from the cold. How long had it been since she had felt his breath on her skin? Inuyasha had been just as busy within the forest's bounds as of late. He knew from experience that there would be demons looking to fill their bellies with humans before winter came, so he had been hyper-vigilant since the start of autumn. Come winter things would die down, animals and demons alike going into their nests for the long season. Inuyasha had been on edge, staying late into the afternoon out in the woods, and never venturing more than a day's walk looking for work with Miroku, nor staying late working out with Sango.

Kagome kissed Inuyasha's hand, making him freeze for a moment. He blinked once, pondering the action, before opening up his hands to return the kiss to Kagome's palm. He closed his hands back over hers, lifting his eyes away from her hand. The pretty young Miko's eyes didn't hide much; he was just bad at picking up the signals. It had been a few weeks, but he could definitely recognize this look.

He was anything but gentle when he pressed his lips against hers. His wife pressed back just as roughly, her hand gripped about his jaw.

"It's been a while," she whispered during a break from his crushing lips.

"I guess so," he gave in reply. Until that moment, he hadn't realized just how much he had wanted her. They had been either too busy or too tired—the latter being mostly Kagome—to give this sort of thing much thought. Not to mention how weirded out Kagome felt when Inuyasha kissed her with Shippo around. Or hell, even the do—

"Where's the dog?" Kagome breathed, pushing his face away by a hair.

"Already let her out this morning," he answered, pushing a rough palm under the hem of her kosode, over her hip.

"Oh goo—"

He cut her off with another fierce kiss, diving his tongue between her parted lips. Oh, how she loved her hanyou's tongue. He moaned into the kiss when she sucked on his tongue. He pulled away with a smirk before nipping her chin. He felt her legs open for him and he shifted his hand across her leg, pushing the front of her panties aside to gently stroke down and back up. Her hips twisted against him, and he teased her with soft circles right where she wanted.

He was still careful about his claws, despite Kagome's assurance that he wouldn't hurt her. It was morning, though. He would rather not bite off his claws with an entire day ahead of him. Today's extra stimulation would have to remain external. He watched her face as he rubbed a little more assuredly. Her eyes closed to slits and her lips parted. Sometimes she would press her tongue against her top teeth, though she wasn't doing that today. He left the view to kiss and lick her jaw. He could feel her breath becoming heavy where he licked over her throat. Her hands had wormed into his hair, massaging his scalp. His little wife was focusing on the task much too easily for his tastes. He wanted her helpless to do anything.

Nipping her one last time on the collarbone, he pulled the covers over his head and ducked underneath. Finally, warmed palms bent her knees and opened her up to him. Inuyasha pushed the hem of her kosode up. He noted that it really had been a while, since the tally marks he had left on her thigh were all gone—as far as he could tell with what he could see under the covers.

He stroked up and down her thighs before gripping just under her backside with one hand. The other he used to push her underwear to the side. He loved how immediate her reaction was whenever he stroked her with his tongue. In general, she wasn't as loud as he had been lead to believe women were, but she was definitely responsive. He could do nothing but listen to the barely-audible hitches and huffs in her breath all day and be…well, decently happy. He wasn't about to say he preferred listening to her and feeling her writhe over actually moving inside her, but it was a good portion of what he liked.

He felt cold air on the tops of his ears and he glanced up. Kagome was trying to see what he was doing. Briefly.

A firm circle with his tongue had her dropping the covers and flopping her head back down. Her thighs squeezed a bit on his head, and he adjusted his grip to keep her legs apart. Licking, sucking, kissing—she was murmuring his name soon enough. Her hands made their way back to his hair. Gripping, clenching her hands in it. He didn't really like when she _pulled_ his hair—not when it was hard enough to shift his head—but the grip and slight tugging he could handle. It was only fair, since he often ended up doing the same thing, and she never complained. A stray thought crossed his mind, that maybe he could get her to return the favor in a minute—but he decided against it since what he really wanted was her body beneath his. That, and he really should have his focus on the present. He heard a soft hiss from her as he felt her body tense, before she started to quiver, and he knew that was his que to stop.

She surprised him by flipping the covers off both of them, panting heavily, but staring up at him.

"It's warm," she said between breaths. Inuyasha snorted while he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

A scratching sound drew both their attentions. Then came a loud whine.

"It's just the dog," Inuyasha said, shaking his head. He crawled back over his wife, fully intent on continuing when a series of whimpers from the door drew his attention again. He even saw Kagome shake her head at the sound, before reaching up to wrap her arms around Inuyasha's neck. A warm palm pushed inside her clothing for the pliant flesh beneath. The whimpering continued, despite their attempts to ignore it by way of groping about their spouse. Finally, Inuyasha groaned, dropping his head to his wife's chest.

"She's gonna keep doin' that until we let her in," he said. Kagome sighed as Inuyasha pushed up and away from her. He shuffled over to the door and slid it open. With a loud yelp, the dog sprinted inside the door and tried to hide in the far corner. She was still whimpering pitifully, and Kagome shot up when she noticed how swollen one side of Aki's muzzle was. Inuyasha noticed a second later and came to join his wife. The dog shrank away when Kagome tried to get ahold of her. Inuyasha grabbed her by the collar, but that didn't stop the dog's flailing. Finally, Inuyasha sat down and held the dog's body between his knees. She still jerked her head away when Kagome tried to take a look at her face.

"You're alright, I just want to see what happened, sweetie," she cooed. Of course, that didn't work. Inuyasha growled a warning to the dog, and the little thing went stiff, just as he intended. Still scared of him, but a healthy dose of fear keeps dog packs in order, anyways. He held the sides of the dog's face, far enough from her swollen muzzle he didn't think it would hurt.

Kagome stroked the top of the dog's head with one hand and gently worked her fingers between the dog's teeth to examine her mouth. She almost jumped when she got the shiba's mouth open and something fell out. She eased Aki's mouth back closed before she looked at what had fallen out. Then she really did jump, because the thing was still twitching.

"A bee!"

"What?" Inuyasha followed Kagome's eyes to the twitching yellow bug on the floor before the dog.

"Hold her, I'm going to get tweezers. She probably still has the stinger in," Kagome declared, standing and padding over to her cabinet. Inuyasha looked down at the dog.

"Bees? What're you doin' eatin' bees, ya damn fool?" He looked up towards where he had accidentally left the door cracked, and noted that it was just before dawn. Damn. By the time they finished with the dog he would need to head out to meet with Sango. He was about to get laid, and in just enough time to wash up and meet his friend but no…damn dog had to butt in.

* * *

When he finished up with Sango, he wondered through the edges of the forest, trying to pick up on any scent of demon or vermin, little dog in tow. Bears had moved through not long ago, but they didn't appear to linger in this part of the forest. Luckily, bears followed the river this time of year, where berries still grew and fish still swam. He made his way to an old den, just in case, to find no scent of the lumbering animals.

The dog, he learned, had a habit of chasing anything that moved. It was no wonder she chomped on the bee. He hoped she had enough sense not to chase after a bear or some other manner of beast. He would hate to see Kagome's reaction upon finding the carcass of the dog eaten by some larger animal. Although, he guess he liked the dog too. She was kind of neat now that she didn't cower from him. He supposed she had figured out he was only harsh with her when she misbehaved…but watching her sneeze after snuffing up a bit of sand near the water, he seriously doubted that kind of intelligence. He really didn't like dogs all that much.

He whistled for Aki and circled back around to his friends' house. The twins enjoyed playing with the dog, and he hadn't been spending a whole lot of time around Miroku and the kids lately…that and it was about suppertime, so he wondered what Sango was making.

He had a knack for timing, since Miroku had just come back with the girls for their mealtime as well. Upon seeing the hanyou and dog, the two girls ran up to play with her. Miroku eyed the dog, and watched carefully over his daughters as he spoke with his friend.

"You know, you should really come up with me one of these days. The kids really enjoy the lessons."

"Bah."

"Literacy is a valuable quality. You never know when it's going to be needed." Miroku smiled at the replying scoff from his friend. Inuyasha gave a sideways glance.

"I can read a little, but there's no point in me _tryin' _to learn any more than I already know. I ain't a kid, I'm probably too old for that kind of thing." He ran his hand over his jaw, lingering on his chin, once again.

"Can't teach an old dog new tricks, eh?" Miroku could feel the glare on the back of his head. He quickly continued with, "And it doesn't matter. Some of the women come to watch as well. They've picked up a bit already." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. What good does it do for farmers and village folk to read anyways, least of all women?

"Sango can write and read. When my eyes get tired, she helps me finish my transcriptions," he countered. Every so often, Miroku would pass his old temple and pick up an armful of documents and paper to rewrite. Which, he always did promptly, staying up for days until every bit had been translated or transcribed into proper, legible, Japanese. Of course his eyes suffered strain when he stayed up with only the firelight to see by. Sango was usually able to read some of the worse handwriting and faded inks aloud to Miroku. Of the two, she had the better handwriting, but she could only read one language.

"And Kagome, too. I've seen her writing in that scroll a lot today."

Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow. He had visited Kagome today?

"Yes? She watches the little children in the early mornings. When I get there, I begin the lessons, of course." Of course. Like Inuyasha should know that. He had never actually seen her with the village children though she always smelled of them, so it made sense. He had often seen Kaede followed by a gaggle of small children, so Kagome taking on the role of designated babysitter to a string of dark-haired children seemed logical…for a moment, he could almost see Kagome watching over a few light-haired children, as well.

His thought was disrupted by the scent of supper being made in the hut behind him. He stuck out his tongue at the unsavory odor.

"Ah man! How can you guys stand that spicy crap?"

Miroku chuckled.

"Your preferences differ vastly from mine, my friend. Besides, you'll get your own meal when your wife returns, ne? No point mooching a second helping then." Inuyasha huffed at the playful scolding. He set a hand on his hip before taking a step in front of the monk.

"I guess I better see if she's ready to go home then." He waved the man off and called for the dog, then found his wife's scent and followed it up to the shrine. There he found both Miko, standing beside a woman in her mid-twenties. The woman wrung her hands in her sleeves and Inuyasha paused. The woman spoke softly, and her voice was shaking ever-so-slightly.

"I mean, my family can live off of what we have left, but we can't sell or trade any vegetables. There's just…" Kaede rubbed the woman's arm reassuringly as she wiped her eyes.

"It is going to be alright, child," the older Miko conveyed softly. The woman nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. Kagome looked up from the woman and made eye contact with her husband. She shook her head in a gesture of 'not now,' as both Miko and woman walked towards the center of the shrine grounds.

Inuyasha scowled at being brushed off by his wife. He hated being dismissed like that. However, as he watched the three women entering one of the small structures, he knew it couldn't be helped. He wondered if that had something to do with those recent landslides. He growled and propped himself against the torii gate. His fingertips went to his face again, rubbing with special attention to his chin.

* * *

When Kaede stopped before Inuyasha, he had slipped down to sitting at the base of the gate—boredly—resting his cheek on his fist. The dog had beside the hanyou for a nap that Inuyasha didn't really appreciate.

"You guys done yet?" he grumbled to the old woman. Kaede shook her head in amusement.

"I'm going, but one of us had to stay ba—"

Inuyasha groaned.

"Inuyasha, why don't you go find something to do? There are many things to be done in the village." Her tone held a bit of whimsy. She smiled slightly and slowly made her way down the first few steps.

Inuyasha scoffed with the old woman's parting words and returned to his annoyed position back against the pillar. Not at this time of day there weren't. Everyone should be packing it in before sunset. His hand returned to touching his face, lest he twiddle his thumbs. If he knew it was going to take this long, he would have gone home for a nap, or one last check over the forest. The sky was beginning to swim with shades of pink and yellow. It was too late to get a nap in now. He watched as the colors became more vibrant, then faded as the sun dipped below the horizon. When he deemed it late, he stood, disturbing the sleeping dog resting against his leg.

"What're you doing up here so late for?" Inuyasha said as he came up beside his wife. She looked to the sky as the first stars poked through the veil of twilight. It wasn't exactly late, but it was getting dark.

"Bad omens." She said simply. She took another deep breath, standing straight and walking past her bewildered husband. He snorted, thinking she was in a bad mood.

"Ain't you gonna tell me what you mean by that?"

"Ah, well," she started, collecting a few items and crossing in front of Inuyasha. "You've seen the damage done by the landslides, well, that's not the only unusual thing that's been going on in the area."

Inuyasha scowled. Was that answer supposed to mean something to him? He didn't have time to voice his thoughts on the subject when the young Miko commented that there was still a lot to be done at the shrine. He nearly growled, but she sent him a look that worried him. _She_ looked worried. He watched her for several more seconds before he had any thought to ask what was going on.

"I don't know that there _is_ anything going on…but…it's hard to explain, so let's not worry about it, okay?"

He sent the back of her head a suspicious look.

"Yeah, whatever." Although he spoke facetiously, as usual, he tucked Kagome's current mood away for later. He would ask about it then.

He sniffed the air and brought his gaze back down to his wife. She had better wrap this up, a drizzle was on its way.

* * *

She had a bad habit of doing this. Kaede's back was going, and Rin was busy off wherever the hell she was, so the hanyou's wife had been picking up the slack around the village. Coming home late at night, barely staying awake for dinner—which she had been letting him cook most nights—and working herself ragged. He still didn't really understand what kept Kagome so busy into the night, but he knew he had not seen that worried expression in a few days.

Today was _even better_, Inuyasha thought with heavy sarcasm. Kagome had stayed late to watch a pair of kids who ended up with a cold and fever. She popped back in to check on the siblings every few hours, and was glad to see that their coughs had improved and their fevers had come down. That didn't change the fact that it was now nearly mid-night and she was exhausted from a long day.

Inuyasha crouched down for his wife, and felt the weight of her drop heavily onto his back. She had elected to be carried by her husband rather than stumbling home half-asleep in the dark. Smart decision.

Inuyasha looked down to her pinkened hands as she climbed on. She was good about illness since the last bout she had. She made sure to wash up well and in near-scalding water afterwards. She tried to make sure she wouldn't get sick, and she couldn't get anyone else sick. While it couldn't be good for her skin, Inuyasha appreciated it. It kept the smell of illness down to a minimum for him, leaving Kagome smelling mostly like Kagome.

Today, she smelled really good. She would smell best four days from now…but despite the scent of her, Inuyasha knew this was the proper time _not_ to get close to her. At least by her standards. Her body wasn't quite ready to conceive, but she insisted on a five-day waiting period. He couldn't remember why though. She wanted to wait a couple years before getting pregnant, after all. Not that Inuyasha entertained the idea of doing _that_ with her now—saying to hell with it, he knew how to pull out—anyway. Kagome was exhausted, and she should probably spend any free time she got sleeping—not _sleeping with_ him.

She was already asleep on his back.

* * *

nuyasha was surprised to see Kagome standing with Sango when he came to visit around mealtime. The young mother was bouncing the baby in her arms, trying to get him to stop crying. His ears folded down to try and keep out the infant's cries. Sango asked Kagome to fold her laundry while she tried to calm her wailing son.

Kagome looked up from her friend and gave Inuyasha a little wave before she disappeared inside. The dog had followed Kagome today, but when Inuyasha looked around, she was nowhere in sight. Smart dog had probably left when the baby started crying. Sango looked up from her baby to her hanyou friend standing awkwardly by her garden fence. He took two steps back when his friend approached him with the baby.

"Inuyasha, would you please hold him," she told more than asked him.

"Sango, that's not—" he started.

"You were always able to get the girls to quiet down," she plead. The poor thing must have been crying for some time if Sango was taking that tone of voice.

"Yeah, yeah, give him here." Inuyasha held his arms out and Sango transferred Ichiro over. The hanyou shifted his weight from one foot to the other, awkwardly trying to rock the child. Sango took a few steps back and rubbed her temples. She had a headache since early in the day, and her youngest child having a fit was not helping.

"What do you think's wrong with him?" Inuyasha asked after a minute without the baby quieting.

"I don't know, he's not wet, I already fed him—he just started crying when we got back and—oh, Miroku!"

Inuyasha looked in the direction Sango indicated. Miroku came up the road with a daughter holding either hand. The girls looked worried when they heard their brother crying. Miroku came to join his wife, asking what was the matter with him. Inuyasha wasted no time depositing the child into his father's arms and darting inside the house to help Kagome fold.

She had finished up early today, and was happy to be going home before dark, for a change. He wondered how long that would hold up—coming home at a decent hour. His ears twitched to noise at the roof—rain—and no sooner than he noticed that, the family of five swept themselves into the house. It was then that Inuyasha noticed the entire reason he had been able to hear the light drizzle—the baby had stopped crying.

"I think he just missed his daddy," Sango replied to Kagome's inquiry.

Inuyasha shrugged and pulled Kagome to her feet. They'd have to get home quickly before the rain should get any heavier. It didn't look like the rainclouds were very heavy, but it was as good an excuse as any. Inuyasha watched her smile when he grasped her hand. Then she yawned.

* * *

Kagome stretched her arms over her head at the start of a new day. She hadn't slept that well in weeks, it felt like. She hoped she would be able to come home early again today. It was a pleasant thought as Inuyasha handed her a cup of hot tea. He always made it a little weak, but she never complained, since on chilly mornings it felt good to start the day with a warm drink in hand. She had to admit, though she had come home early, she still didn't spend much time with Inuyasha—at least while conscious—having gone to bed early. She'd barely talked to him in days, and she felt bad about it. She knew how cranky he got when he felt ignored, but he had been remarkably quiet in his complaining as of late.

Kagome had the village children following her around much of the day since Miroku was taking today off. She didn't mind the kids, having gradually clung to her side as their parents were working hard to prepare the fields for winter. During the summer, she had gotten pretty good at entertaining Koyuki and Yukie, so she felt prepared to watch the smaller ones that toddled along occasionally.

Inuyasha found her already in-route to their home when he finished patrolling the woods. She almost laughed when she saw his quirked brow as he came up to her. Even he had gotten used to her coming home late. Inuyasha brought back a pheasant while Kagome picked vegetables from the garden.

While Inuyasha cleaned the catch, Kagome stood next to him, reminding him to cut with the grain, since the meat was too tough last night. She had become more comfortable with him doing the butchering in the house, but he was still haphazard in how he cut the meat sometimes.

"Right, right," he mumbled. He changed the angle of the knife and Kagome smiled. Cooking dinner beside her husband was simple, calm, domesticity. She just felt so comfortable. Although, Inuyasha felt a little odd with her staring like that. He turned his head to stare back, hoping his wife would get the message. To his surprise, Kagome placed her hand on his cheek and turned his face further to her. She gazed at him with a curious sort of look.

"What're you doing?" Inuyasha squinted.

"I dunno, I just thought I saw…" she smiled and shook her head, dismissing the thought. She dipped forward and pecked him on the cheek, then turning back to her portion of the meal. Inuyasha blinked rapidly and touched his cheek with the hand that had been holding the knife. '_That was weird_,' Inuyasha thought with a touch of heat in his cheeks. Aki's claws clicked on the wood floor beside him, and he went back to cutting the pheasant. He dropped a few scraps down for her, which the dog gobbled without question. No wonder she got into so much trouble eating things she wasn't supposed to.

As they sat down for dinner, Kagome felt herself watching Inuyasha again. He would take a bite, and every so often he would wipe his lip or chin, before continuing the conversation with Kagome. They were talking about Sango, though Kagome wasn't paying as good of attention as she could have. Inuyasha mentioned a trip he and Sango would be going on, and while Kagome wondered why it had to be Sango and not Miroku, she wasn't paying enough attention to details to really get a reason.

"You gonna finish that?" Inuyasha asked, wiping a piece of rice from his chin and gesturing to the small bit of pheasant left in her dish. Kagome blinked. She scooted over to Inuyasha and gave him the rest of her food. She took what dishes she had and what he hand finished to wash. By the time she finished, Inuyasha handed her the final vessel and she washed that out too.

She looked back to her husband to find him stretching his arms over his head and the light then caught…

No way.

She crouched beside him and touched his jaw again. Inuyasha gave a confused grunt before her hand shifted to his chin and she yanked.

"Ouch!"

She twirled the silvery hair between her thumb and forefinger before she looked up to the glare of her husband as he held his hand to his chin.

"It's a hair. A facial hair," she stated dumbly. Since when did he have facial hair? And this one was long enough to pull, so it must have been left for some time. Why had she not noticed her husband was growing facial hair?

"Yeah I know, and it was my only one!" This earned another confused glance from his wife. She looked back down at the hair, then back to her husband.

"Are you trying to grow a beard?"

"Well, I…I, uh…I definitely don't want to look like a punk kid forever!" Inuyasha's face was suddenly turning red at the admission. Kagome cocked her head to the side. Inuyasha glared, telling her not to give him that look. Miroku shaved. Miroku had been shaving since he met the guy. He once asked why he didn't just shave his head like a real monk since he spent time shaving in the mornings...he pursed his lips at Kagome's laugh.

"What the hell is so funny?" he growled.

"Oh, it's nothing, nothing," Kagome said, waving her hand, "It's just…my dad was the same way. He couldn't grow facial hair either. I remember asking him why my friend's dad had to shave in the morning and he didn't, and he just kind of…" she broke into another laugh.

"Don't make fun of me, god damn," he growled again.

"I'm not, I'm just…you're not gonna grow a beard, whether it just won't grow or you have to shave in the morning." She took his unamused face in her hands. Inuyasha fought the urge to roll his eyes, but got an idea instead. He held the back of her head in place and leaned forward to kiss his wife. He pulled away, and she blinked at first, then laughed, then placed a kiss right back on his lips.

Okay, he had to admit, when she wasn't making fun of him, he loved the sound of her laughter. She dipped down to his hair-free chin, leaving little kisses that lead up to his jaw. Her hair smelled so good. His hand came up to stroke the soft strands and she leaned into his touch, stretching her neck for him. Her skin smelled so good. She was kissing his face again, then his lips again. Her lips were soft.

Kissing was good. Kissing was great but…Inuyasha hadn't noticed exactly when his wife had come to sit in his lap—straddle his hips. He had, however, noticed when she yanked open his clothing and her tiny hands rubbed up his chest. That left no room for wondering about his wife's intentions. As much as it pained him, he pushed her body—her mouth—away by the shoulders. Tonight was not the night.

"Ah Kagome, no, come on."

She giggled, pushing past his hands and planting her lips firmly onto his neck. Inuyasha sighed and pushed her away again.

"Kagome, we can't," he whispers to her. Kagome's smirk dissipated.

"Th-that's fine." She still didn't leave his lap, but she repeated, "If you don't want to, that's—"

"It's not that I don't want to," he interrupted. Kagome's gaze slowly traveled over his face, curious as to why. Inuyasha shifted his legs under her uncomfortably. He sat back, leaning onto his hands.

"Unless you want a kid nine months from now…"

Kagome was puzzled for a moment. When his words clicked, a sheepish look spread over her features and she removed herself from her husband's lap. She stared at her lap and balled her hands into the cloth there. She wasn't keeping track of her cycle like she was supposed to be. Of course embarrassing situations like this would come up when she got lazy.

"Sorry."

"Keh," he muttered, starting to fix his clothing.

"I was just thinking…the other day we got interrupted so I wanted to…" she trailed off.

"In a couple days," he chuckled. They had gone without for almost a month now, what was a few more days? He jerked when he felt her warm left hand was back under his clothes. Now warm lips were at his throat too.

"Ah, Kagome, come on."

She shushed him as he other hand pulled on the knot in his hakama with her right hand. His hand stilled her wrists. She continued to kiss his throat despite the restraints.

"I told you you'd get pregnant if we do it."

"We won't be doing _that_, then," came her quick reply. She pulled away from his throat to meet his eyes. Brown and deep and so full of…love? She was asking him something. Asking for his consent. Consent for what? They couldn't do _that_ so—oh. He was a little slow on the draw. Although she was the one hot as all get out, so shouldn't she be the one…

"You got cheated the other day, and I want to do this for myself, anyways." Inuyasha swallowed thickly. That seemed logical. He wasn't about to turn her down when she wanted to pleasure him. He certainly got something out of doing that to her.

He glanced over to the corner of the room. There, the dog had curled up for the night in her usual spot. A moment of worry rolled through his mind, but then, if Kagome didn't care about the dog, neither would he. If he were quiet, he wouldn't wake Aki.

He released the pretty young Miko's wrists. She took that as her que to return to kissing his neck. She pulls on all his clothing ties, parts, untucks, and unwraps everything that covers his front. Her right hand finds skin again and he sighs into her hair. Her strokes are gentle and slow as her left hand presses down his chest. He makes a soft grunt from his throat when she absentmindedly pinches a nipple.

"I forgot you don't like that," she murmurs as she moves her hand back up to his neck.

"Actually it's fine. I just…it's just something you only hear women liking. So I wasn't sure."

"Men like it too. You do, don't you?" she whispers into his shoulder. With his breathy 'yeah' she lowers her hand back to his chest.

"Can I?" with her words, she squeezed around him gently with her right hand, and all she heard was a whimper, but she felt him nod. She replaced her hand with her lips, kissing over his chest and laving her tongue over his nipple. He made a small whine in the back of his throat when she swirled her tongue around it. It was a small noise that she barely caught, but it made her smirk against his skin nonetheless.

She wrapped her left hand around his back as she changed her position to get an easier grasp on him with her right hand. Stroking a little faster earned a little buck of his hips. She lifted her head to look at his face. He was still breathing through his nose, but the look in his eye was one of a man fully enthralled with her actions. She kissed his face, and when she went to pull back, he leaned forward to press against her lips. She wondered if she could continue like this. She had never tried to get him off with only her hand but, with the benefit of a free mouth to kiss—and be kissed by, wow—her husband, it seemed like a good deal.

He broke the kiss to breath heavily for a second with pinched eyes. That was another benefit. She could easily watch his face.

She moved her hand a little faster and his breathing hitched again. She was stroking him and kissing his shoulder while she watched the expressions he made. Sometimes he would look her in the eye after a buck of his hips, and Kagome would wonder if it were odd how much she liked that. After a few minutes he gave her a look of…confusion? It disappeared when she gripped a little tighter for the upstroke and he squinted his eyes.

"Ah, no, come on," Inuyasha said with a heavy breath. His right hand came to encase hers, squeezing her hand tighter around him. He then pushed her thumb upwards, to the very tip. Kagome realized immediately what he was doing—showing her what to do—before he told her what she had been doing was good, but a little more of this added was better. Her face was red as can be, but she took his guidance, squeezing, stroking, pressing and touching him just as he showed her. He leaned back again, onto his hands and Kagome continued.

Her lips were at his throat again, leaving soft kisses and little nips as she made her way down his shoulder. His hips bucked again. She smiled against his collarbone, and dipped down further to glide her tongue over his nipple again. His hips moved again when she gripped a little tighter and pressed her tongue firmly into the dark, delicate skin. And she thought his nipples weren't sensitive at one point. She wouldn't tell him this, but he seemed more responsive than she was. He made small, strangled noises that never left his throat when she sucked on that sensitive bit. He was so quiet tonight. It was almost as if he were quiet on purpose—and so she listened closely. Every shaky exhale, near-silent groan, squeak—every sound—made her heart thump just a little harder. He opened his mouth to lick the roof of it when it went dry and Kagome got a chill down her spine with the sound of the small action. She looked up and god, the faces he would make when his hips moved were the best.

She saw his hand moving. Fingers balling into a fist and releasing with every small move of his hips. He laid that hand on her clothed knee, and now pressed against her with the same movement of his hips. She heard a breath and looking up, she saw him mouth something. He did it once more, and Kagome watched his lips form the syllables of her name. The hand on her knee was pushing against her a little harder now. He must be close. She changed her grip around his back to reach around for the other nipple, and pinching it she left soft little kisses over the rest of his chest. She whispered his name back to him and drug her tongue over his Adam's apple when he tipped his head back.

It surprised her a bit when warmth was suddenly on her wrist, then her hand. It was a soft gasp, not a growl or groan like she had always heard from him in the past. She looked down towards the mess he had made of his own belly and her hand, knowing to continue moving her hand until he was completely finished. She released him and leaned down to kiss him—him having slouched back onto his elbows.

"I'll be right back," she whispered to him so she could wet a rag. When she returned to his side, she couldn't help but kiss him a bit more as he smirked up at her. She wiped down his belly as she kissed him, and paused to clean his groin. She almost blushed when she did that. She was so used to handling him while he was aroused, she nearly forgot that wasn't his constant state. He gripped her wrist and took the rag away to finish the rest himself. He glanced down and found a spot of white had somehow gotten onto her hakama, so he wiped that off as well.

"Really shouldn't get _that_ sort of stain on Miko robes, you know?" Then he remembered that she had, in fact, stayed completely dressed the entire time. Now that he looked at himself, his top layers were open, but still hanging off his shoulders and his hakama still mostly on. Neither one had undressed.

He pulled his wife close and commented on this, following up with asking if she wanted anything. She shook her head. That was all she really wanted, plus, it was getting late. Inuyasha wouldn't call it late, but it had already been dark for some time.

"Guess that took a lot longer than it usually does by myself," he said, referencing the times he had pleasured himself in the past. Kagome flushed, but did not still her actions in pulling the covers tighter over herself and husband.

"How long does it usually take?" She asked bravely. She watched her husband frown as he thought over something.

"Remember the night we first moved into this place?" He watched his wife nod and continued, "About like that." Kagome's quiet 'oh' was accompanied by raised eyebrows. Then there was a chuckle from Inuyasha, and a simultaneous one from Kagome. They had both learned a little bit about themselves in seven months, and neither were conceited or oblivious enough the think every bit of intimacy was perfect—was ever going to be perfect—especially those earlier months in their marriage. They understood each other a little better now, with intimacy and day-to-day living…

They thought.

* * *

...

* * *

Dun Dun Dun. Pointless smut, but with a foreshadowing for a much more intense chapter 24. Chapters 24-probably 28 will include some darker themes, and I will try to warn accordingly before the header. Sorry this chapter got so long! I don't know how that happened I just wanted to write some happy stuff before things became miserable.

This chapter is unedited, so please let me know if there's mistakes from spelling to plotholes.


	24. A Wriggling Sack of Worms

A warning for minor character death. It's nobody you know.

* * *

**A Wriggling Sack of Worms**

Kagome frowned as she examined her neck in the pocket mirror. She saw her husband flinch from the corner of her eye when she touched her fingertips to the maroon bruise forming there. She glanced at him for a moment, sighing as she closed the pocket mirror. Welp. She had warned him about the neck.

"You know I didn't mean to," he grumbled, stuffing his hands into his sleeves. He glanced her way, at least having the decency to look sheepish. Kagome just tugged her robes up high on her neck, but they wouldn't stay high enough to cover the hickey. Well…winter was not long off.

"Inuyasha, don't worry about it I'll…cover it with a scarf. It is pretty cold out; no one will think anything of it." With that, she picked through her articles until she found the drab grey scarf she had made as practice in her first month of marriage. She tugged it around her neck and confirmed with him that it did cover the mark, and most of her neck. He knew her neck was off-limits for rough kisses but he had gotten carried away and disobeyed that rule the previous night. Kagome made the comment that she wasn't mad; she was just a bit annoyed with it. He would just have to be careful for future instances.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and set about folding their bedding away while his wife started on breakfast. He surveyed their firewood stack and decided that he may as well go cut more. He had finally remembered to buy an axe, and Kagome did well with it, but he still preferred to snap the wood apart with his claws. He still had a bit of that destructive nature, though domestic village life had calmed it somewhat.

About the time breakfast smelled ready and Inuyasha was bringing two armloads of wood inside, two knee-high critters darted in through the open door ahead of him.

"Oi! Watch where you're goin', runt!" Inuyasha called to the kit. Of course, Shippo didn't respond, only skittering with the dog to find out what Kagome was cooking. The fox jumped onto Kagome's shoulder, and the Miko grunted with the weight.

"Shippo, you're getting a little too big for that," she chided. The boy apologized but did not remove himself from her shoulder as he peered around to watch her cook. Kagome smiled when she heard her husband getting the dishes down behind her. She reached up to pat the boy on the head.

"Alright, alright. Go sit down Shippo." He dropped off her shoulder and Kagome thought with curiosity that the little fox weighed about as much as her obese cat in her childhood home. Shippo was bigger, yet he still was not even the size of a human toddler.

Inuyasha and Kagome had the boy for the winter now. She was happy to have him back, though Inuyasha had grumbled about the whole ordeal. Kagome didn't understand why. Shippo was always off by himself or with the dog practicing for his return to the mountain. Since he had managed to move up in rank this time, it meant he would have to try even harder to get better. Although…Shippo _had_ played a prank on Inuyasha the other morning, ending with the hanyou sopping wet and covered in acorn hats…but other than that, they seemed to get along.

Inuyasha went back to the house after he walked with Kagome, Shippo, and Aki to Kaede's house. He still needed to get some wood cut, since the temperature was falling again for the oncoming season. He trudged through the decaying leaves and moist undergrowth, looking upwards for anything he could use.

Ah, that was good. The branch was think like the ones he enjoyed napping on, but at too steep an angle for him to rest comfortably, so it could go. He leapt up above the branch and wrapped an arm around the trunk. A hard downwards kick snapped the branch from the tree and fell to the ground below. It snapped pretty cleanly, but it stripped some of the bark below the branch. It would heal come springtime.

A soft white glow caught his attention in the distance. He tilted his head, observing the small white entities clustered in the branches of the far trees. The things had no eyes, but Inuyasha felt certain they were staring at him.

"Hey!" he shouted at them, watching as they faded and disappeared seconds later. Tree spirits were uncommon sights in the autumn, when everything was dying, but they were not unheard of. He saw the occasional one or three in the spring, but rarely outside of that. They were perfectly harmless, he knew, and most times, they didn't bother him, but then he would spot a few that seemed to stare at him. He hated the feeling of being watched. He hated being _stared at _is what it was. He had no qualms about telling the little buggers off because of it.

As he came to the clearing, he saw a woman, knocking on the door to his house. She shifted uneasily on her feet when she must have realized no one was home.

"She's already left for the day, you'd have better luck checking the village," he hollered, towing the branch to the side of his house. The woman spun to the sound of his voice, clutching her fists to her chest. She couldn't have been more than sixteen, he noticed.

"Oh thank god," she whispered to herself. She took a few cautious steps towards the hanyou. Inuyasha watched her curiously as she approached. She looked nervous—sweating despite the cold weather. She swallowed thickly before she spoke.

"Inuyasha-s-sama, I-I need your help," she spoke softly.

'_Sama?'_ Inuyasha squinted at the use of the honorific. The villagers only called Kaede and Kagome with the addition.

The girl's expression became panicked with Inuyasha's annoyed squint. She feared he might not hear her out.

"_Please,_ please, I need your help," she plead, dipping her head to stare at the ground. Inuyasha's ears twitched. She was standing close enough for him to hear her heart pounding. He crossed his arms and lowered his head to her level.

"Hey, hey. What's got you so scared?" The girl looked back up then tipped her head down again.

"My…my husband and my brother-in-law went on a trip four days ago…" the girl paused to bite her lip. The movement of her hands distracted Inuyasha. She was fiddling with something clutched in her fists. He looked back up to her face, telling her to get on with it.

"T-they were supposed to return after two days…I-I thought maybe they got held up by weather at first, but when they still didn't return last night…I…I'm so worried," she paused to get her nerve up, "please, find them and bring them home to us! I know you can do it."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. It probably was weather that was holding them up, was all. It wasn't a very good year to be traveling this time of the year anyway.

"No, no. It's more than that, look!" She held out what she had been clutching to her chest. "This is Akeno's favorite cup! There's no way it…it was fine when I went to bed last night, but it's broken! It's broken." The girl held the shards of the broken cup closer to him, trying to make him see what she was seeing.

"So he'll have to use a different cu—"

"No, it—it's a bad omen. Please. What if something happened to them? I just want—I want them back home, safe and warm." She took two steps closer to him, eyes defiant and pleading all at once. Inuyasha huffed. He wasn't going to turn the poor girl down—as soon as he had finished getting firewood together, he would…something stopped that thought process right away. Something in her scent.

"Tell my wife where I'm headed," he told the girl as he darted off without a second thought. He barely caught her quiet word of thanks.

* * *

A mudslide washed out the road. The ground was oversaturated from the river here, and the debris field swept deep into the woods. The tree spirits…he saw more of them as he looked around. They were unhappy. Even though this forest was a few hours away, the forest spirits sympathized with them.

He couldn't help but sigh as he pinched his eyes shut and crinkled his nose from the scent. He found one of the men he was looking for, just one. Just his corpse.

"Dammit," he swore, leaning back against a broken tree, uprooted by the slide. He didn't care about the man, really, but when he saw his white, dead face, he saw the wife's. Pleading and scared—trembling—he didn't imagine…considering the situation—a woman in her situation…damn, even he felt for her. He couldn't discern which man this was from scent alone, but it didn't matter. Soon enough he would come across the other, whether it was the brother or the husband.

When he growled aloud, his ears twitched to the replying noise. He leaned out from the tree, ears swiveling to pick up any possible sounds.

"Hey!" He called into the empty woods. The responding groan sent the hanyou flying into the woods. He called again, and again, a response came, allowing him to pinpoint where it was coming from. There he saw him, curled at the base of a tree. A man of about Kagome's age. His face was deathly pale—like that of his brother—but not. The man only had mud to his knees and elbows and he had obviously crawled his way from the mudflow and ended up under the tree.

"Hey, you alive?"

The man's eyes opened and he took in the sight of the hanyou before him. His hand shot out, grasping desperately onto Inuyasha's sleeve.

"Oh thank—Inuyasha—you don't know—"

"Shut up," he commanded. The man's hand was cold as ice when Inuyasha pulled it from his sleeve, continuing with, "Can you walk at all?" The young man shook his head.

"I think my leg's busted." His voice was hoarse and Inuyasha could hear the man was straining through the pain from his leg, and the weight of his exhaustion.

"That's about what I figured," Inuyasha said, suddenly hefting the man up by the front of his kimono, and securing him on his back. The man asked what he was doing, and Inuyasha scoffed. Even if he wasn't weak and injured, it was quicker this way, and the man was hypothermic.

"Wait!" The man said, trying to get Inuyasha's attention as the hanyou took off, "Akeno was with me. He should just be a little further down he's—"

"He's dead."

"No he's not, he was just with—"

"He's dead," he repeated. Inuyasha's tone was pointed, leaving no room for discussion. The man went quiet after that. When the hanyou felt the man trembling, he thought he might cry, but the smell of salt was minimal, so he doubted any tears had spilled out. He was shivering. His body temperature had finally raised to the point where he _could_ shiver, where he hadn't been able too before. It was an hour's run to the village when the man spoke again.

"He…he just got married…n-not long after you did…Haru…how is she going to..." So this was the brother-in-law, not the husband. Inuyasha hadn't bothered to ask.

* * *

Kagome stood with Haru as the Miko kept vigil over the far forest. The light was dimming, but she saw the bright silvery-white and red against the greenery as he approached. Haru wasn't looking. She twined her hands together and picked nervously at the sleeves of her yukata. She didn't see Inuyasha until Kagome moved forward. Her feet moved automatically when she saw that Inuyasha did, in fact have someone on their back.

"He found them!" She called into the house and soon her father-in-law joined her.

The man looked past Inuyasha's hair, and shoved away from the hanyou's back as Haru came up to meet them. He set down on his bad leg, grimacing. He hobbled a few steps towards his family.

"Kenta, I-I'm so glad you're okay," Haru said holding his arm to balance him. Okay besides the ankle. His father made it next, and at that point, Inuyasha had the thought to back off from the family reunion.

"I'm just so…" she looked to Inuyasha, smile still on her face. He stopped moving away, staring glumly at the girl.

"Akeno? Where is Akeno?" She looked to Kagome as the Miko's eyes went wide, and she paled, guessing what was going on here. Haru turned back to Inuyasha, silently hoping he had an answer she wanted. Normally, he was so blunt, he would answer any question without thought or tact but…he wasn't saying anything.

"Haru," Kenta said, shaking her arms just a little, "Haru…" her expression changed suddenly, as if she had just been insulted. She looked to her father-in-law desperately, but the man's face was turned to the Miko, then the hanyou, just as desperately.

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Kenta asked of his father. Kagome looked just as surprised as the young man whose leg she was treating, but Haru merely hung her head in acceptance.

"Kenta, Haru has no ties here anymore and…it would be better for her to go back with her family," the father stated. Sending the girl back with her family…she was still young. The older was fond of the quiet girl, and it would be best for her and her family if she got a second chance to find a husband, back home with her family.

"No ties? Dad, she—she's lived with us for half a year! She knows everyone here, she worked next to Ake—"

"Kenta." The father's tone was stern, before he looked back to the young woman at the center of the conversation.

"Haru, it would be better for your family to take you back, you understand?" Haru nodded solemnly. Kagome's gaze went back and forth between the girl and older man for a second.

"Uh, I don't? I don't understand why she would need to?" Kagome, shot the man a quizzical, slightly offended look. He only ever had two sons to worry about, even if he did take Haru in as his daughter it was not his place to—

"Then let me marry her!" Kenta shot back, "Then she won't need to leave!" Kagome turned the same confused expression to the younger man.

"She's a good woman. Hardworking, smart—"

"Kenta, that won't—"

"And why not? She already knows me pretty well, we get along fine and—Haru?" Kagome's eyes followed the man's gaze to the girl, whose expression showed surprise around red-rimmed eyes. She looked from Kenta to his father before lowering her face. Kagome looked back to the young man. She couldn't believe that—not only had she just lost her husband, but…the young man stared after Haru. He said that be felt partially responsible for his brother's death. He had been the impatient one—the one who just couldn't wait out the storm. He felt responsible for Akeno, and now he felt responsible for the wife he had left behind. The father pursed his lips, but looked down to the woman, speaking calmly.

"Haru? How do you feel about this?" Technically, she should not marry without her parents' consent, but since it was within the same family ties…

"I…I don't…I don't know…I just…I only just lost Akeno today…" She was quiet a moment more before she lifted her head.

"You…" She took a deep breath. "Do you have anything against Kenta being married to me?" The older man shook his head.

"My wife would have liked you, you know?" She saw the shine of her father-in-law's eyes, and knew that he, too, was hurting. By the continual mention of his eldest son, now that he no longer walked the earth, and the memory of those he had lost before. Her husband—her mother-in-law—it was a miserable situation, but she had to make the best of it. They were all grieving over Akeno now.

"Then I'll marry Kenta," she declared. Kagome felt weird about the situation. They were practically family, Haru and Kenta…they weren't but…it didn't make Kagome feel good but it was settled. Kagome would hold a funeral for the man tomorrow, and some time after 49 days, Kaede would marry the couple.

"No," Haru countered, "I want you to marry us. Because…it was your husband who brought Kenta home, and without him…"

The screen lifted from the door, and the savoir in mention stood there holding a folded cloth in one hand. Kagome tied off the bandage and told the young man to stay off it for a while, before she excused herself to join her husband in his walk to the outskirts of the village.

"Doesn't look broke to me. His leg I mean," Inuyasha commented. Kagome nodded. It was just a nasty sprain.

"I see you got someone to give you a sheet," she commented. It wasn't 'given' to him. He promised the family a good boar dinner in the next few days. It was bartering, though Inuyasha wasn't sure if the price was fair. It wasn't as if Inuyasha had never handled bodies before, but he had never carried one such a far distance. It might start coming apart during the trip.

"Inuyasha, I don't feel good."

"Like how? Are you gonna throw up? It's one dead guy." Inuyasha shook his head. Kagome negated the statement. It wasn't the dead guy, it was this whole situation. She told him how she planned to remarry—and to her brother-in-law!

"Ah, well."

"Well what? She's marrying her dead husband's brother, Inuyasha. Discussing it barely a day after he's died!" she bit her lip after she said that, looking back to see the light from the house was probably outside of earshot now.

"She's probably not gonna get a chance to marry again," Inuyasha stated. His tone sounded almost…somber?

"Oh Inuyasha…She's still very young. You know _well_ that people…can fall in love more than once" Inuyasha's eyes shifted to his wife slowly, "but it's just…he only just passed away, there's no way that She and Kenta…" she trailed off.

He took a deep breath. The meaning of her words to him was not lost on the hanyou, but still, he continued.

"Kagome," he started in a whisper, so that Kagome would lean closer to hear, "you don't get it…she's…pregnant."

The resulting gasp was quiet, and the Miko covered her mouth. She brought her eyes down, staring straight in front of her, mind racing. She raised her eyes back to him.

"How, uh, how far along is she? Does she know? Oh my god, if she knows—it just, I can't imagine how she must be feeling." She covered her mouth as she muttered the last bit. To lose your husband is terrible, but the father of your child?

"She shouldn't know by now. She's only, maybe a week along, no more than ten days. I could only just barely tell because she was sweating when she came to get me."

This was awful! She couldn't marry the pair knowing this. Inuyasha agreed- agreed that they couldn't wait the 49 days. Should Kenta discover she was carrying his dead brother's child, well. it could go one of two ways…but even if Kagome did marry them, if she didn't know she was pregnant already, she would by the time the mourning period had passed. Inuyasha tipped his head to one side—she wasn't getting his meaning. He told her that was just it. Realistically, it wasn't any of his business, but if Kagome wanted the woman to stand a chance, she would wed the couple before then. With any luck, Kenta would believe the child was his. It was early enough in the pregnancy where that was more likely to work out. He knew they couldn't hold a wedding after the funeral…but before…Kagome couldn't lie to them like that, and it wasn't right to put off the funeral just so they could get married!

Inuyasha scoffed. He really didn't care, but he was giving her a good option that would make everyone happy, and she just stuck her nose up at it.

"The best thing for her would be to miscarry the kid then, then you wouldn't have to worry about a damn thing. Whether she marries that guy, or finds a husband elsewhere." Inuyasha growled. She could marry them without issue. An unskilled woman wouldn't survive in this world without a husband, and no one would marry her if she already had someone else's brat. This was about survival, couldn't she see that?

"I can't believe you! How could you say something like that?" She stared at him in disbelief, clutching her fists to her chest. For him to even suggest—!

"Kagome, this isn't my opinion, it's a fact. And you know it." He looked at her severely, trying to convey this simple truth. A human woman—even a woman in layered robes living in a castle—could not survive with a child at her feet and no husband at her side. It wasn't right, but that's how it was. He understood that personally.

"I can't believe you would say…no, Inuyasha, what…" She clutched her hand to her head. How could he say that? How could he say that about the woman? For her to lose what Kagome suspected would be a well-wanted pregnancy with the husband she loved. The husband she lost…if Kagome were…if Kagome were in the same situation—Inuyasha was a man, of course he wouldn't understand!

"What do you know?" She screamed in a sudden flash of anger. He should understand! He should understand the view of a mother who desperately wanted to keep child from the man she loved. How much she would love that child. How much his own mother loved him, despite the world telling her not to. Even though Inuyasha never knew his father, his mother loved him and raised him single-handedly! Just like her own mother had raised herself and Sota after daddy died.

He should know better than to say something so stupid.

"What gives you the right to say something like that?!" Inuyasha was first taken aback by her sudden shift in tone. Then came anger at her words. He didn't like being yelled at, and he didn't like being called stupid.

"What do you mean _'what gives me the right'_?" came the deceptively calm tone. He took a deep breath, taking a step forward.

"What do I know?" he said, his volume raising as he spoke. He grit his teeth.

"**What do I know**..? What do _you_ know?" he snarled accusingly. He knows things work different in a perfect world. Hell, he knows things work differently where she was from, but in this case, she was wrong.

"You ain't even from this time," he scoffed, anger dripping off his tongue to pool at his feet as it fell away from himself, "and you obviously don't know how things work around—"

The instant the words rolled off his tongue, he felt the twinge of guilt in his gut. The world stopped for a moment, only his angry words left between himself and his wife. She looked at him in disbelief again, but no longer was there anger attached to it. This wasn't about the dead man or his family anymore. She had turned this on him, but why did he have to take the extra step to…she had been in and out of listlessness for months for this very reason—that she didn't quite feel she belonged here—and he was supposed to show her that she did! As she had done for him—as she was still doing for him every single fucking day, putting _his_ insecurities aside, reminding him that for her, they were not even an issue.

"Kagome…" he reached out to cup her face, "Kagome I didn't…"

In a violent outburst she shoved their bodies apart.

"DON'T!" She cried. At arms length, she began to tremble. She spun away from him, rubbing her hands over her arms in an attempt to calm herself.

"Just get out of here…" he spat, though her tone held no bite, "you still have to retrieve his body, right?"

Inuyasha looked to the earth below, then to the starry sky above. He was trying to process how they had gotten here. How did they go from talking about the dead man's family to…

"Kagome, what's going on here?" It was a stupid question, but to him, it felt necessary.

"Whatever's going on in your head, I'm not getting." He approached her with caution, and she looked at him with the slightest mist beading at the corners of her glittering brown eyes, "Or maybe there's some subtext I'm not seeing."

She took a deep breath in through her nose. She didn't mean to yell at him…but why, then, had she gotten so emotional.

"I just…I was thinking, well…it doesn't make any sense to day now, but I was thinking about how…my mom raised us alone after my dad died. She raised us alone. Grandpa was there, but grandpa was grandpa, mom was taking _care_ of us, all on her own." She looked down to her hands.

"Singlehandedly. For you to say a woman can't survive without a husband, can't raise a child alone, well…"

"Kagome, it was different for your mother. Your…" he lowered his voice, "your whole world was different from—"

"What about your mother?" she asked. Inuyasha shut his mouth, staring at her.

"She raised you, right? All on her own? Your father—you said you don't remember his scent, how he looks—even whether or not you were born before he died so…I was thinking about that too." Inuyasha's expression dipped into a scowl, staring down at his feet. Kagome nearly spoke after a moment of silence, but with knit brows, he answered her first questions, in halting sentences.

"My mother wasn't a farmer…And…I was still a kid…" he met his wife's eyes, then shook his head at her. It wasn't something he ever wanted to talk about. His wife seemed to take his silence with understanding, staring down at the ground.

"What are you going to do?" he asked her suddenly.

"What can I do?"

Inuyasha wore a grim expression. He would dawdle. He would bring the body back at noon, so that she had enough time to perform a hasty marriage. He leaned towards her, meaning to kiss her, but she held up her hand. She did not want to kiss him right now. They parted silently. They were quiet, but the air still reeked of tension between the pair. Even as the hanyou disappeared into the forest that bore his name, and the Miko disappeared into one of the huts. It was still early in the night. There was still much to do, and lies to be told.

* * *

When all was said and done, they walked home in silence. Even with a dog at their feet and a kitsune at the Miko's shoulder, they were silent. When they were nearly home, it was the fox who broke the silence.

"Ooh! I can't handle this! What'd you do to Kagome?! Why are you guys not talking?!" He said, frustration directed towards the hanyou who wore a lighter scowl than normal. Kagome sighed.

"I yelled at him, Shippo. He didn't do anything to me." Inuyasha's brows knit. He had though, hadn't he? He had said something—

"But you yell at him all the time! Why are you acting so weird now?" Kagome's eye's darted to Inuyasha's with a question. Do I? She asked silently, worry on her scrunched brow and apology already on her bitten bottom lip. Inuyasha pursed his lips and plucked Shippo from Kagome's shoulder, setting him on the ground beside the dog. He told the fox calmly—as if he had been practicing levelheadedness—to take the dog and go play somewhere. Shippo shot Kagome a nervous glance, but seeing no reluctance in her face, he obeyed quietly, tugging on the dog's collar. Inuyasha held his wife by the elbow and urged her to continue moving forward.

The pace of the world seemed slow, and Kagome felt like the words were coming dreamily—in a daze—disconnected.

"Shippo's right," Inuyasha said when the boy was out of earshot. Kagome looked at him dubiously, but said nothing, allowing him to continue. So she did yell at Inuyasha a lot. She hadn't even realized it. As if reading her mind, Inuyasha chose that time to speak.

"We aren't talking about this." What was there to talk about?

"You're too quiet." Of course she was quiet. What's done is done. There is no more to discuss. Everything was fine.

"You don't seem fine to me." He wasn't talking about the girl, the dead man, or the marriage.

And he was right. She shook her elbow out of his hand…then wrapped her arm around his, clinging to him tightly. She didn't feel good. She didn't feel right about anything right now.

"Kaede's mad at me, I think," she told her husband. She didn't tell her outright that what she did was wrong. The old woman didn't glare or tell her off, but Kagome could tell. She would get over it, he responded. Should she tell the old woman the whole story? No, that was probably a bad idea…but Kagome just felt so guilty, like she was lying to the pair—lying to Kaede. She had a wriggling sack of worms for a stomach and it was making her feel sick.

"I shouldn't have told you she was pregnant." No. That was for the best. If they had waited the 49 days…she would just be that much more pregnant. It would be so much worse for the girl and her baby. This way, the child would have a father-figure in their life, and they would believe it was their actual father…provided the pair behaved like husband and wife soon. She hadn't even thought about that when she agreed to run the rushed ceremony!

"But what if they don't?" They're teenagers, of course they will.

"We were married almost two months," Kagome replied with a worried expression. Inuyasha gave her a sideways glance. They had only waited because Inuyasha wanted a house of their own. But Kenta lives with his father.

"They have a shed, I mean, she had to get knocked up in the first place, right?" Kagome cringed at the term 'knocked up'. She knew her husband was trying to lighten the mood but, using somewhat crude language was not the way to do it. Not when the situation was like this. Inuyasha huffed, opening the door, and shutting it when Kagome walked inside and sat on the raised floor. He had a point, but Kagome's belly was still twisted with anxiety. Her pretty brown eyes looked away when he sat beside him. There was so much more to this.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," she said suddenly. Inuyasha frowned. He grabbed her wrist so that she would look at him. He held her gaze, gold to brown as he spoke the next words.

"Shut up about that. I can understand where you're coming from but when I said a woman can't raise a child alone…I already was thinking. About my mother, I mean." Kagome's expression was confused, but also…he spoke so rarely about his mother. She didn't expect him to say anything, really. She was stupid for even asking anything but…he spoke…he spoke because there was nothing to hide. Although it was difficult for him, he wasn't hiding anything anymore. She wanted his trust and his honesty. She deserved it before, and she deserved it so much more now. He pushed himself to continue.

"I know my old man was s'posed to be some great guy, but I don't remember a thing about him. He just…wasn't there for me—for us—and I just…I dunno." He paused, swallowing down the lump of anxiety that had come up from his own gut.

"She died when I was probably seven, I don't really remember," he said, quickly, trying to get it over with, "and why she died…well, it wasn't her fault, but I just feel like…if maybe the old man was there to protect her and…take care of me a little, she would have stood a better chance, you know?" His situation was a little different with the addition of being a hanyou, but…when he saw things like this, mothers without fathers, he couldn't help but see his mother. Kagome was squeezing his wrist, urging him to continue. He smiled weakly at his wife.

"It's kinda fucked up, but women around these parts…You and Sango are, y'know, different."

Kagome's eyes dropped away. She knew it was the truth. Sango was a demon slayer, with the training to kick anyone's ass who told her otherwise, and she was a Miko, who was respected, and often expected to take their duties more seriously than marriage and children. Even for his mother…

"And what I said about…where you came from…I say some pretty stupid shit when I'm mad."

Kagome wasn't going to deny that. She wanted to forgive him. Forgive him for reminding her that this world wasn't meant for her…that she had to get used to it still. She didn't have to force it, to find a place for herself, but it still…it made her feel out of place sometimes.

Out of place.

She leaned her head on Inuyasha's shoulder. She wondered if this was what Inuyasha had felt like. It was a disgusting feeling. A scary feeling. Sad. She wondered this, and she felt Inuyasha's arm wrap around her back. He was being so good to her. Quiet, understanding…so unlike the boy she used to know. She knew then that Inuyasha possessed a good deal of empathy. He probably understood her perfectly when she argued her side, but he was looking at it from another angle. Now that they had calmed enough to stop yelling, and he knew how she felt—felt out of place—he knew the feeling. He knew it well.

"I just don't feel good," she said, turning her face into his chest. She knew why she felt so bad, the funeral, the marriage, the pregnancy, the words said in anger—but knowing the cause didn't help her feel any better. His hand slid down her arm, grasping around her wrist. Kagome moved her head to look back at him when she felt him lift her hand. He squeezed it when her eye's searched his for some solace.

And he gave it. An apology as he brought her fingers to his lips.

'_I know I screwed up—I know this is screwed up, but please forgive me. I'm sorry for making you feel that way_.'

She never heard the words. He was so unlike himself as he placed a kiss on her fingertips, and Kagome didn't mind the things he had trouble wording aloud. He kissed her hand and her wrist, keeping his eyes trained on hers. She wiped her eyes with her other hand and leaned her forehead against his chest, and for some time, they stayed like that, wrapped up in each other.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't perfect that they argued and complained to one another. It wasn't perfect that he sometimes undercooked the food and then burnt it when he tried to finish cooking it. It wasn't perfect that she whined about only being able to bath with a pot of hot water and a rag, because it was winter. It wasn't perfect that he was so careless about cleaning up after himself. It wasn't perfect how she sometimes kneed him in the groin while they slept. It wasn't perfect how both of their mouths ran amuck when they were angry. It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't easy, but it was good.

* * *

...

* * *

Okay, I am pulling 90% of this out of nowhere. It's completely unedited, and unresearched but I wrote two chapters in five days, and I wanted to get this one up before my birthday (the 20th).

I am unsure if they made love after this, it feels like the wrong time, but intimacy is key. It doesn't fix everything, but it helps. In a few days, Kagome will feel more at ease, but there's still issues existing.


	25. Family Matters

**Family Matters**

"You sure you'll be alright?"

"Shoo, shoo," Kagome said, shoving against his back, "you said you and Sango go every year, so just go." She pushed on her husband's back harder. He got a laugh out of it when he dug his heels in to stay put and she growled.

"You act like you don't want me here," he joked, leaning more of his weight back onto his wife. She fought to keep a frown, but it cracked with a chuckle when he turned halfway around to look at her. She removed her hands from his back and he stood upright once again. He hadn't been real sure of her mood in a few weeks, but she seemed to be in a much better mood the past few days. By better, that meant not melancholy. She had snipped at him yesterday when he questioned her aim with the bow in practice. Even given the wind, she should have been able to hit the center target, no problem. The comment alone would have been fine, but he made a second one and ended up face first in the ground with a snoot full of sand that had him sneezing for a good fifteen minutes after.

"I don't need to take the persimmons," he said, handing the dried fruit to her. She had insisted he take _some_ form of snack, since he and Sango weren't likely to pass a market on their way through the mountains. He had his fill of breakfast that day, and he could catch small game if he or his friend got hungry, but the whole point of this trip was to hunt much larger game. They would catch a few deer and book it back to Sango's old village. There, they would visit with Kohaku a bit while they cured and smoked the meat. Plus, they had a limited amount of the dried persimmons, and he knew Kagome loved them…he did too, but he would rather the supply stay at home.

There was a knock at the door before it slid open to reveal the couple's friend ducked her head inside the house, asking if Inuyasha was ready to go.

"Yeah, about ten seconds," he replied as she slid the door back closed. He turned back to his wife, shoving the persimmons into her grasp. She stood on her toes to kiss him and see him off, ignoring the quiet sound of disgust out of the kitsune from his spot on the folded sleeping bag.

Kagome stood out to watch her friend and husband as they left. Their forms were finally disguised completely by the bare branches, and Kagome sighed. Two weeks was a long time. The longest they had been apart in almost eight months.

The first few days were fine, and she spent most of her spare time with Miroku and the kids. Ichiro was onto solid food now, but he had still been nursing from time to time, and he was not exactly happy about the sudden total weening. So, once a day Kagome would sooth the baby while her friend got some shut-eye. It was rather cold to be outside with an infant, so Kagome bundled up the children and headed out to Kaede's house.

* * *

"Did I ever tell you about the time my father tied me to a tree?" Sango asked, tossing one rabbit femur into the fire. Inuyasha shot her a bug-eyed look. His brows knit together in a confusion. He thought Sango had a good relationship with her father.

"Mn, apparently not," Sango laughed at her friend's reaction. She laced her fingers and stretched her arms out over her head.

"I thought you said your dad was a decent guy?"

Sango laughed again.

"Oh, he was, he was…It's just…where I'm from," she began, "it's just something you do with children, as part of your training." She paused to hold her chin on her fist.

"When a boy is seven, maybe eight, you tie them to a tree in the middle of the woods and give them a dagger, to make sure they can get out of the ropes find their way back home on their own. Normally it takes about a day, but if they don't come home after the second day, you have to bring them home. It's very safe, there's usually a family member around to watch you."

"You said boys," Inuyasha noted. Sango nodded.

"Right. As you know, I was the first-born child to the village chief, so I wasn't excluded from this …Oh, my mother was furious…I heard all about it when I got home. She had given my father an earful to be heard on the other side of the village, apparently."

"So how long'd it take you to get home?" Inuyasha asked, anticipating the end of the story. Sango sighed. She looked up at the stars visible through the treetops with the nostalgic feeling that crept over her.

"I got home the next morning. Took me about the same as everyone else…" she paused. "Now…Kohaku…Kohaku made it home by nightfall when he was strung up. It surprised everyone. We didn't expect him home so soon. Nobody did. I mean…He was bawling his eyes out—poor baby—something I hadn't done, but…he was home." She couldn't help the chuckle on the last bit. Her smile fell after a second. Her gaze fell directly in from of her when she thought of how her mother might have fussed over Kohaku too, but…she hadn't been around by that time.

"Huh…"Inuyasha said suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest. When Sango looked back the golden-eyed man, he was looking up and nodding slightly.

"Inuyasha. Kagome will bite your head off if you try that with her children." She raised an eyebrow when he looked back at her. He scoffed. A sudden thought came to mind, and Sango wet her lips before she asked about it.

"So…I heard from Kagome that you two were waiting to have children. I'm just curious, but…"

She swore she saw the man's face flush in the light of the campfire. He scratched his face and looked away with his gruff reply.

"Y-yeah, well, we ain't in a rush, so I don't see the big deal."

Sango sighed, digging a little dirt from under her nail. When she was satisfied that her nails were clean she looked up to find her friend scanning the trees for a place to rest for the night. As he crouched to jump into one, Sango spoke.

"Inuyasha…I'm…I'm late," she said pointedly, but in a whisper, as if it were a secret she would not want someone to overhear in passing. Inuyasha cocked his head to the side with twitching ears. Had he heard her right?

"Late how?" He asked, expression suddenly dubious. Sango just stared back at her hands.

"Like…_late_ late."

Inuyasha slowly crouched back down across from his friend. He watched her pick at her sleeve for a few seconds before he spoke.

"You don't exactly sound thrilled…"

Sango shrugged. Inuyasha sat back on his haunches to ponder his the demon slayer's expression. He knit his eyebrows together.

"You don't want another kid, eh?"

"No, no, it's not that…" Sango shook her head.

"It's not that I don't _want_ another child, but…just not _right now_, you understand, right?" She envied Kagome and Inuyasha. She wished she had gotten some time to get settled into her new life before she became pregnant, but it just hadn't been in the cards. She loved her children dearly, but she just…needed a little down time. Like right now, on this outing with her friend.

"What did Kagome say?"

"I haven't said anything to Kagome yet. I wanted you to…confirm," she interrupted quickly. She sighed, before meeting her friend's bright eyes once again. His head tilted to the other side as he pondered her words.

"How far along we talking?"

"If you add…" she trailed off thoughtfully, considering the added weeks before she would have noticed any change.

"About three weeks," the mother of three gave. Inuyasha blinked.

"You're not pregnant then. I'd be able to tell by now." Inuyasha squinted when his friend let out a sigh, pressing her hand to her chest. She took his words with a nod and sent a smile his way. It wouldn't be the first time her cycle had been a little off. Sango had mentioned after the birth of her twins that she quite liked the idea of having a large family. When she was a little girl, she used to imagine that she would eventually have five or six children. But…Inuyasha supposed he understood what she meant. A constant string of dirty diapers really should make someone think twice about having their kids so close together.

Plus, if she was pregnant all the time, she would be confined to the village, and she hated that about as much as he did.

The first year she was married, she was eight months pregnant with twins, too far along to take the trip through the mountains. The third year, she had been just a few months pregnant, and despite the slight swell of her belly, they had gone hunting together like they had the second year. It was something her and her father had done together for years, and although her father was no longer with her, when she heard that Inuyasha followed the same migration path for years before her, she desperately wanted to continue the tradition. Inuyasha was somewhat grateful to have a partner, despite warning her that he would be annoyed if she scared the deer.

Before Sango, he had never known humans could hunt deer without bows. Although he had seen Sango shoot a bow before, she relied on ropes and her sword when she went hunting. Although Inuyasha could easily kill prey with just a swipe of his claws, it intrigued him to see a human woman catch and kill one without a long-range weapon, by way of manhandling and strategy.

* * *

The young Miko had been keeping a nervous eye on Haru and Kenta's new marriage, at first. When the first week passed, she had been doing it out of worry, she could not stop thinking about the lies she had told or if what she had done had been wrong…but as the weeks wore on she stopped thinking about it quite as much, but she still checked on them once in a while. Kaede didn't seem upset by it anymore—what's done is done—and that really helped Kagome feel more confident that she had done the right thing.

It surprised her when Haru sought her out one day, when the Miko was hurrying home one night before dark.

"Kagome-sama? Can I talk to you?" The girl asked, hurrying up beside Kagome. Kagome nodded, telling her they could talk only if they could do it on fly. It was cold and Kagome wanted to get home and sit down beside her warm hearth. Haru folded her hands together and kept pace beside the older girl.

"I think…Um…I think I could be…I might be…" Kagome's pace slowed and her heart began to pound…was the girl telling her…had she realized that she could be…?

"I think I might be with child." The soft-spoken girl whispered.

Exactly what Kagome knew was coming.

"Y-you're pregnant? Are you s-sure?" She said, mentally cursing herself for stuttering. She stilled her pace and looked at Haru's downcast face. The girl nodded and bit her lip. Kagome's heart began to pound. This situation…what if the two of them hadn't…yet…?

"I-I-I know it's very soon, but…" the girl's face flushed.

"I…I think…I don't know if we weren't supposed to…be as husband and wife while we were still mourning but…It's…it feels like a good omen to me..?" Her voice was dubious, and she stared at the hands twisting in her wrap.

"It wasn't wrong of us to…so soon after the funeral…I…"

"No, no!" Kagome interrupted. She set a hand on Haru's shoulder.

"It's not wrong, not at all. Y-you said it feels like a good omen, so let's focus on that…why do you think it's a good omen?" Kagome smiled reassuringly—or at least she hoped the smile was reassuring. Haru nodded when she looked to the Miko's face, so she assumed the smile was appropriate.

"It's just that…" she swallowed, unable to speak her deceased husband's name.

"I had wanted to start a family and nothing...nothing came of it in five months so..." Kagome heard the crack in the girl's voice on the last syllable. She squeezed Haru's shoulder, trying to reassure the poor girl. While five months wasn't a long time to try for a baby, Kagome was not going to bring it up. She was going to do her best to support this girl. Haru took a deep breath to calm herself.

"So maybe…maybe it's better with Kenta? Maybe this is what was meant to happen, because now I'm, well…I'm getting the family I wanted? Maybe it happened so soon because I was meant to be with Kenta and not…" She swallowed down her grief.

"What do you think?"

"I'd like to think it's a good omen too." Kagome took a deep breath.

"I'm betting it's a sign that you will live a long life, and have lots of children with Kenta."

The girl smiled and wiped the little beads of moisture from her eyes. She nodded, satisfied with the Miko's reassurances.

* * *

"Inuyasha...that sound is really getting on my nerves." Sango glanced up to where Inuyasha sat in the tree above her, incessantly tapping his claws against the bark. He had started fidgeting two nights ago, and had never stopped since. It was only seven days into the trip…is this what Miroku had to put up with? He had asked if he was this…annoying…because he was away from Kagome and he merely scoffed. He wasn't going to turn into a total mess just because…

The stars were nice tonight. The sky was clear—which also meant it was cold as a Yuki-onna's gaze—but he could clearly make out all the little stars and constellations Kagome liked to point out to him. There were ones she had no hope of seeing, too. He had looked at the sky as a human, he knew that she wasn't seeing everything that he saw. He had never thought of the sky as pretty before she pointed out to him the difference between what she saw between their two worlds. He imagined the difference would be like that between his human and hanyou forms, and that, he supposed, might make the night sky look beautiful to her eyes.

Her eyes…big and brown and sparkling with emotion while she turned to smile at him while she pointed out the constellation of the dog…little Miko found that amusing, did she?

He hadn't stopped tapping.

"Inuyasha, I swear, if you don't go to sleep right now, I'm going to knock you over the head with Hiraikoustu and _make_ you sleep."

"Ignore it," he growled, adding a tapping foot against the branch he sat on. He barely caught the sound of something hurdling at him before it smacked him upside the head and knocked him out of the tree. He sprung out of the bushes below and grasped the offending rock in hand, glaring at the caster. She huffed and sat up.

"Look, I haven't slept in two days because of all the noise you're making fidgeting. I know you miss Kagome, and if you want to go home, then go."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He wasn't making that much noise, anyway, and he _wasn't_ like this just because he…it wasn't like he was incapable of being calm without her around. He was just fine. Fine.

Sango sighed, flopping back down to try and sleep again.

"You think I don't miss my kids?"

The next few days were better. Inuyasha had caught the scent of the herd, and they followed it down along the southern edge of the mountain range as the deer made their migration to the coast. Given something to do, his fidgeting had almost completely stopped—much to Sango's relief. When they finally heard the sharp call of a straggler—and they both heard it—the pair had nodded at one another. They split up then.

* * *

"Your mommy's going to come back, sweetie, don't worry," she cooed to the crying toddler that clung to her chest. The girls had been wailing for hours. Miroku had failed at tying bows in their hair that morning—something mommy always did perfectly—and that was where it started. The relative quiet in the monk and slayer's household had lasted a whole seven days though.

Yukie had quieted down a while ago along with the baby—who had started crying when his sisters had—but Koyuki wasn't distracted with games or toys, even food. Kagome and Miroku traded the little girl off, trying to calm her, but she just screamed herself hoarse. Kagome almost felt like crying, hearing the heartbroken sobs of a little girl who assumed she would never seen her mother again. She sounded so terrible, the hoarseness of a child who had been crying all morning. It was only a little while, she told the girl. Koyuki protested that her mother was gone forever. Kagome stroked her back and pet her hair as the little girl struggled and screamed.

A couple village women heard her screaming and came to investigate, finding the desperate father and his friend, the Miko trying to shush the toddler. The middle-aged women tried their hand at calming the little girl, but she only quieted, crying into the chest of whoever held her. Kagome eventually had to head up to the shrine and leave Miroku with the women to help soothe his children. The second she finished the last of her duties, she raced back to the house to find her friend had managed to get his children to bed early and was sitting against the exterior wall.

He flashed her a smile as she rounded the garden fence.

"Want some?" He asked, holding up the jug of sake. Kagome frowned, taking another step to stand before him.

"How long have you been drinking?"

Miroku chuckled, setting the jug back beside him.

"About two minutes." Kagome shook her head and sat against the wall with him. He sighed and took another sip of sake. Kagome glanced back towards the door before she turned back to look at her friend.

"Long day?" She asked, setting her jaw on her fist.

"A bit of one, yes." He smiled.

"They've almost got _me_ thinking Sango won't come back," he chuckled. Kagome shrugged. She assured him that it wasn't much longer before Inuyasha and Sango returned to both of them, and life would go back to normal.

"Normal, huh?" There was a note of whimsy in his tone.

"You know, it almost seems like the kids don't like me," he said, sighing, "they don't get like this when I go on jobs, do they?" The question was rhetorical. Kagome frowned. The kids were just more used to their dad going away on trips, it was a…disturbance in the way of things when it was their mother, instead. Miroku nodded as she told him this.

"And Ichiro cries when you're gone. Remember? There have been a few times where he's started crying, only to stop when you hold him."

"Right, right…" he mumbled, before continuing, "but Sango…I don't know how she does it. I'm starting to feel bad about leaving her home all alone with the kids. She's got so much work here."

"It is a lot of work…but soon enough, the girls will be older, and they'll stay out of trouble better. It's hard when they're this young."

Miroku nodded, taking another sip. His friend had a point. He had always wanted many children, but he hadn't really put much thought into times like this. Would the children be better behaved and more able to understand reason when they were older? Of course they would. For him to ask such a silly question, the sake must be starting to take effect. When the girls were older, they would be better able to take care of themselves, and able to help with chores. Probably help with their younger siblings, too. It wouldn't hurt to wait until the girls were older to have another child. So that he wouldn't feel so bad leaving his wife alone like that.

"Sango is better at tying hair ribbons, though," Kagome said with a chuckle. Miroku shook his head with a chuckle. The young Miko was a good friend to have.

"You'd better get home before it gets dark," he commented glancing up at the purpling sky.

"Right," she agreed, standing and brushing herself off.

"You haven't seen Shippo or Aki at all today, have you?"

Miroku shrugged.

"Oh, well, I supposed they'll turn up as soon as I get dinner going…well anyways, I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Kohaku was just waking up when he heard voices from the other side and saw Kirara transform to rush over the side of the wall. He recognized the voice just as a blur of red vaulted over the wall and landed before him, a buck thrown over his shoulder. Kohaku flashed a smile at the man before looking up to Kirara, carrying his sister over the great wall. She jumped off of Kirara when they set down safely.

"I was wondering when you'd be back this yea—" the boy started, but was cut off when a hand came down on top of his head. Inuyasha ruffled the teenager's bangs.

"What happened to your hair, kid? You ain't been sleeping in again, have you?" Kohaku frowned, ducking out of the way of the hanyou's hand, and pushing his hair aside. He got back late last night, he ws allowed to sleep in once in a while, wasn't he? Sango ignored the exchange to make way into one of the buildings to prep the meat for curing. It was best to get it done as soon as possible. They could talk after they were finished...

"So what have you been up to, Kohaku?" Sango started, taking a seat beside the boy for lunch.

"I hardly ever see you. You never come around the village anymore."

Kohaku rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't mean to stay away for so long, sister. It's just that I've been real busy lately."

"The insect population's gone up," Inuyasha interjected. The boy nodded in turn. Because of their swarm mentality, they were usually the first to be killed off by stronger demons, such as Naraku, but they also reproduced quickly, making them the first population to go up in the absence of other demons. Inuyasha had kind of figured something like that, with all the insect demon-related jobs he and Miroku ended up in. Oftentimes more of a nuisance than an actual threat to anything larger than a chicken, but it gave Inuyasha and Miroku work, so he wasn't about to complain.

Some of the meat they worked on smoking, which took a while to get going, but was well worth it. Inuyasha couldn't handle the thickness of the smoke, and stood out away from the building while Sango and Kohaku tended the smoke room. He knew he enjoyed smoked meat, but he also recalled that the stuff they made from the deer was never quite as flavorful as the packs Kagome carried with her back in the old days. He had asked her about it once, and she explained that she bought it from a vendor, so she never really knew how it was made, but it he could figure out how…

When Kohaku and Sango emerged from the room to let the meat smoke Inuyasha noticed something interesting while he sat back a ways. They approached with Sango gesturing to a wall that looked different than she remembered. Kohaku relayed that he found some dry rot and replaced a few boards. He turned his head and ducked out of the way as Inuyasha tried to put a hand on his head again.

"Oi, c'mere," Inuyasha said, smirking, trying to get the boy in a headlock. Kohaku slapped both hands on his head and ducked out of the way. He spun to face the hanyou with an irritated expression.

"Would you come here? I ain't gonna do nothin' to you, I just wanna see somethin'." Sango frowned and sent Inuyasha the same suspicious glare as her brother. Inuyasha shrugged and waved the boy over. Kohaku took cautious steps towards the hanyou, pulling his hands from his head. As he thought, Inuyasha set his hand on the boy's crown…then he set a hand on Sango's head, and both shot him puzzled looks when he started laughing.

"Well would you look at that!" he said, removing the hand from Sango's head and then leaning his arm on top of Kohaku's head.

"You finally grew!" Sango cracked a smile at that, but Kohaku pursed his lips and glared up at the hanyou, though a blush darkened his cheeks.

"Here I'd thought you'd stay shorter than Sango forever, now you're the same."

"Yeah, yeah, okay!" Kohaku pushed Inuyasha's hand away from his head and glared between Inuyasha and his sister with pink cheeks. Sango scolded Inuyasha for picking on her brother, but the hanyou just chuckled.

"Don't worry, sister, I know for a fact Inuyasha isn't shaving yet, so—"

"You little brat." Inuyasha growled, immediately touching his fingertips to his chin.

* * *

Today was quiet. Miroku's children were well-behaved, and he decided to let Kagome off the hook from babysitting duty for the day. Shippo took Aki out to play that morning, and Kagome hadn't seen either since breakfast. She finished up at the shrine early, and Rin, stayed quiet as she worked on the embroidery pattern Hana had asked her to work on. The village children were less likely to be playing out in the cold than they were in warmer months. She checked up on Haru, who had no changes overall besides the continuing lack of menstruation. So when Kagome got to the house, she sat with her back against the wall, peering out into the dark room. Winter was officially here, telling by the lack of leaves on the trees and the temperature of the wind. The windows and door had to be kept closed to prevent the room from getting too cold, or letting too much air out should she decide to start a fire.

There was never that much laundry to be done, she had done all that yesterday. There was no one tracking mud in and out of the house all day, so the floors didn't need to be cleaned. There certainly wasn't any buildup of dust since the last time she had dusted. She could review the notes she had taken from Kaede weeks prior, but she was pretty sure she had a handle on what herbs and rituals did what. She sighed, slumping to lay on her side.

She wished Inuyasha were here. Even just for him to sit beside her would make her feel more comfortable. Now, in this lonely silence, she was bored. It was such a contrast from the days which she had no free time at all and now…she was rarely ever bored. When she was, well, at least Inuyasha was usually bored with her. When they were both bored at the same time…they had ways to occupy at least a little of the down time…

She flopped onto her back. She wasn't about to lie to herself. She was a wife, who missed her husband's presence, pure and simple. She missed the brush of his hand when she handed him his food, the weight of his arm thrown over her in sleep, the general security he provided when she leaned against him when they sat beside one another. She missed the not-so-innocent touches too. The ones she rarely thought about when he had other matters to occupy her mind.

She rubbed her fingertips over her hand, as Inuyasha would sometimes do when he was in one of his gentler moods. That man could still infuriate her at times, but when he wanted to…she missed his gentle moods. It was cold out, but sometimes they sat on the roof or laid out in the grass at night and looked overhead at the clouds moving across the stars and the moon. She would tell him all kinds of things as they laid out there—she realized he probably wasn't listening to a thing she said, but she appreciated it nonetheless. She liked to point out constellations and lean her head on him—listen to his heart. She had always wanted to make love like that. She thought it would be romantic, but then, she always got nervous, and bit her tongue when the thought came to mind.

She realized her fingers were encircling the opposite wrist. She could easily get her fingers around her wrist, but they never overlapped quite like Inuyasha's did when he grasped her wrist. When she held his hand, it was so much bigger than hers. He was so much bigger than her, and at that moment, she wanted to feel the weight of his body against hers. She wanted to feel his large calloused hands holding her own smaller ones and…touching her skin.

She wanted his hands but…

All she had were her own…

* * *

They came from the east end of village, and met Miroku and the kids first. Inuyasha flattened his ears against his head from the shrill cries of the two little girls who missed their mother dearly. Inuyasha barely had time to question the footfalls as a small figure approached him from behind as he made his way back to his house. He spun around just in time to see the tiny white-and-red clad figure spring into his arms. He lost his balance and deposited them both on the ground. He laid still for a second as the little Miko rubbed her cheek against his chest. After a breath, he reached an arm around to encircle her small form, holding her to him as she whispered just how much she had missed him. He squeezed her back once, then told her to let him up, since the ground was frozen solid, after all. She sat up on top of him, smiling beautifully.

"That was a long wait," she said, cupping his cheek in her hand. He started to smile back when his expression changed suddenly. Surprise? Curiosity?

He grasped the hand at his cheek and turned his nose into it, sniffing.

"What are you—" she started to ask when his eyes widened and darted to meet hers. She blushed all the way up to her ears. She knew exactly what he was smelling, despite how thoroughly she had thought she washed her hands. She snatched her hand away and pushed away from his chest. She clasped her cheeks in her hand and squinted her eyes shut when he began to sputter behind her.

"Y-you were—you were…" he swallowed thickly and got to his feet.

"You were doing _that_ while I was…I was only gone a couple weeks…"

"and I guess I missed you, okay!" She slapped her hands over her face in absolute embarrassment. Inuyasha's ears flicked back for a second, unsure of how to feel about the fact that she had been…he wasn't unsure for long.

"Okay…" he started slowly, "I get that…so yeah. I guess that's…" he tried his best to smirk, though the effort was sorely lacking.

"That's what I'm for—so, uh, you can do that while I'm gone but since I'm here…you only gotta ask if you—"

"I don't!" she squeaked.

"Right…" he licked his lip. Suddenly he kinda wanted to. He ignored this and stuffed his hand inside of one of the bags he held, pulling out a strip of smoked meat. He laid a hand on her shoulder and showed her what he had for her, trying to break the tension. Kagome, still beet red took the meat from him and examined it. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves enough to speak coherently.

"You made this?" Inuyasha negated the question.

"Nah, mostly Sango and Kohaku," he shrugged. Kagome nodded.

"Oh, so you saw Kohaku?" Inuyasha confirmed the statement with a nod. He thought he had told her that he and Sango were going past the old village before he left. She had probably just forgotten.

Inuyasha and Kagome were both silently relieved when the conversation eased into talk about his trip. It was good to spend some time with Sango, he said. With all the running around everyone was doing as of late, he hadn't even had a chance to exercise with her every few mornings. He hadn't had a new moon sword match in over a year, with Sango's pregnancy getting to the late stages and all. It was good to see the kid too. He was going around rebuilding the village and its reputation, like Sango had wanted to do.

"Oh, well she could have done that, if she wanted."

"Naw, she had the girls right away, so…" Kagome touched a finger to her lips as they walked along the path to their house, and back into their normal routine.

"Well, yeah…she could have put off having kids for a while if she wanted, but I guess they really wanted to start a family."

Inuyasha scoffed.

"What?" Kagome asked, raising a brow.

"Sango didn't get much of a choice in how soon she wanted a kid."

Kagome frowned.

"Oh come on, I know Miroku wanted children, but she could have persuaded him to wait a while if she really wanted to."

Inuyasha huffed, rubbing his hand over his face.

"Kagome, Sango never had a choice in whether or not she wanted a baby…" he started, "Do the math. The twins' are turning three in a few weeks…they married right after you left…" he waved his hand in a gesture that asked her to continue down that line of thinking, but she just gave him a confused look.

"Wait, what?"

Inuyasha's cheeks felt a little hot as he stared out in front of his feet and tried to explain.

"All I'm saying is that they got married in the morning, took off for two weeks that day to visit the old village, and when Sango got back, she was two weeks pregnant."

It took Kagome a second, but he saw the instant she understood what he said by the paling of her features.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." Kagome nodded mutely, absentmindedly chewing the piece of meat Inuyasha had given her. Wow, that was…what if she and Inuyasha had ended up like that, with her pregnant from their first intimate encounter? Well, in the grand scheme of things…it wouldn't change a lot, she supposed. She glanced down at her flat stomach, hidden by the layers of her robes. She would already be getting pretty big by now—wouldn't she—if that had been the case? She would probably still be out running errands and working at the shrine, wouldn't she? It wasn't like your life stopped as soon as you entered motherhood.

That's right. Of course it didn't. If Sango really wanted, she could pack up and move the kids out to her old village at any time. She just chose to focus on her life here. Life didn't stop just because you conceived a child…She looked up to Inuyasha's back as he stretched his arms over his head before locking his hands together and draping the bags of meat behind him. She had initially wanted to wait to have a child because she _was_ going off the mentality that life stopped after parenthood…but…

* * *

...

* * *

Yup. Sango got pregnant on her wedding night.

Some of you noticed some errors in the last chapters, and I'm gad because some of the errors are quite annoying in re-reads so I have fixed some and plan on fixing others. Also, given that it is six in the morning on a Sunday and I am just now getting to bed, I imagine some errors exist in this chapter as well, which I will try to fix over the next week.


	26. A Promise Made

This chapter contains sensitive material that may not be suitable for readers who came for smut and fluff. It has mentions of the manga version of what Mukotsu tried to do to Kagome, and themes along that line. For your convenience, I have uploaded chapter 27 at the same time, and this chapter is largely skip-able, with only 1-2 chapters where this one is needed for understanding. I will label those as well with a warning.

* * *

**A Promise Made**

It was a white world the pair traveled in, and a quiet one besides the crunch of the snow underfoot. The falling snow dampened the sounds of the rest of the world outside the snow's influence, and the lack of wildlife sounds was beginning to try on the hanyou's nerves. He turned back to his friend, flicking the layer of snow off his hat. Inuyasha frowned, looking out into the snowy road ahead of them. It had been getting thinner as they walked but…

"Hey, you figure any of this'll make it down to the village?" Inuyasha gestured to the air around them. Miroku shook his head.

"It does look like the storm is heading that way," the monk confirmed.

"Ah, that's good. Kagome's been wanting snow." Inuyasha whipped his head around at the sound of his friend's snort.

"You hate snow." Miroku lifted one brow with a smirk.

"What? Where the hell'd you get that idea?"

"From you, of course." Miroku held up one finger.

"Now I may be paraphrasing, but you said '_this white crap makes everythin' blurry, the smells, the sounds. Like functionin' wit a hunk of wood jammed through yer head_,' isn't that right?" Miroku said, giving his best Inuyasha impression. Inuyasha felt his cheeks heat from the reminder, and the undertone of why he had changed his mind. Yeah, he did say he hated snow, but Kagome liked it so…and why did everyone who tried to mock him have to use an accent? He didn't have an accent…although he found it odd they all used the same accent to imitate him.

"Yeah, well whatever," he said, trying to divert the conversation with, "I didn't see what you got for the girls."

"Oh, right," Miroku said, producing a little bundle. He revealed a little pincushion with two large needles in it and some cheap, lose-weave fabric. Inuyasha squinted at the 'gifts'. He could see someone stepping on the needles or getting their eye poked out if the brats lefts them lying about.

"You're givin' 'em sewing stuff? They're only turning three, idiot."

"Yes, three, but _going on_ four. The girls have been quite interested in watching Sango lately, so I figured they might like it. And new toys seem like a bad idea after the ball incident over the summer…You know, I was five when Mushin started teaching me to sew," he finished, tucking the gifts back away, safe and sound. Inuyasha stopped walking and cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"You can sew?"

"Not very well, but yes, a little." Miroku shrugged. Inuyasha tilted his head to the other side.

"Why?"

"Well," Miroku chuckled, "it was just me, father, and Mushin most of the time, it wasn't as if there was a woman at the temple to do any sewing. Plus, it's good to have those skills when you're on the road enough."

Inuyasha scoffed.

"Yeah, well maybe you can fix this sleeve," he smirked playfully, "I've had this hole in the pit for like a month, and I keep forgetting to have Kagome fix it. Damn sleeve's gonna come off before too long an…"

A quiet crept over the pair as Miroku watched his friend's nose twitch, picking up on something.

"What are you smelling, Inuyasha?"

"Some dead guy up ahead. Hasn't been dead long though," Inuyasha shrugged. The second he said it, he regretted letting the monk know. Miroku's way of life meant trying to bury any dead humans they came across. With battlefields it got a little iffy, but for a single dead guy…with the ground as frozen as it was, and without a shovel, it meant Inuyasha would be doing the digging.

It was twenty minutes later when they came upon the body, and Inuyasha crinkled his nose at the sight before him. He…he had caught another, familiar scent as they had approached, but Inuyasha had denied it until just now. The snow-covered corpse had been in his early thirties, nude and with…under the snow, it was obvious.

"What…What happened to him?" The monk asked, as he cringed at the odd positioning of the body. He had never seen a _man's_ body in this condition before.

"You ain't stupid," Inuyasha snapped at the monk, seemingly out of nowhere, "you know exactly what happened." Inuyasha's agitated gaze met his friend's as those blue eyes widened with the meaning. The monk looked away then, nodding. It wasn't too surprising, the monk supposed. It was just…

"I'll dig the hole, you do what you gotta," Inuyasha said turning and walking a few steps before sinking his claws into the frozen earth.

* * *

Kagome laughed as she chased the yipping dog and little fox around the front of the house. When she stopped to catch her breath, the shiba bounced happily looking up at the falling snowflakes. One landed on her nose and she snorted, following up with snapping her teeth, trying to catch other snowflakes as they came down. Shippo drug his feet through the snow to make tracks as he came over to the young Miko, laughing alongside her. Kagome reached down to pat his head, asking him if he wanted to try making a snowman.

"I don't think there's enough snow yet," the boy said, tilting his head.

"Well, we can try making a miniature one then. Maybe I could go find some twigs while you get the balls made" Kagome suggested, earning a wide grin from the fox.

Kagome loved the snow too. She loved the fall for the colors, but she remembered the days when she would head to the elementary school with her friends, where there was a big hill that the road was always closed up on whenever it snowed. When Souta was still little, her mom made her stay home so he wouldn't feel left out and Kagome's friends always ended up on the shrine in the middle of a snowball fight. Some years they would only get a dusting of it, but she still liked how everything looked in white, with pops of color everywhere…except along the streets, where everything was a brown slushy mess.

Kagome found some thin twigs and pebbles in the forest, where the snow fell thinly. They would do well for a face and arms on a small snowman. Kagome looked up as she exited the forest. The sky was grey and almost white, but she felt certain that it was late into the afternoon. Inuyasha had said he would be back by now, but looking at the thin layer of snow that covered the ground, she supposed that if it was snowing any more thickly on the road, the boys might be slowed down. Miroku, at least. She knew Inuyasha wouldn't carry the monk just because he was slow, so she supposed she didn't mind them taking a little longer to get back than promised. It was safer that way, and she would rather Inuyasha not piggyback the monk home as the result of an icy fall from rushing.

When she returned to Shippo, he already had one ball half as tall as him, but the dog kept trying to take a bite out of it.

"Aki, shoo, shoo!" Kagome chastised, pushing the dog away with her foot, "Why do you have to try and eat everything?"

"Because she's a dog, and they will eat anything. Just look at Inuyasha and his garbage-gut!" Shippo laughed. Kagome frowned. There were many things she cooked that Inuyasha turned his nose up at before her prodding…besides that…

"That's not nice, Shippo. He wouldn't like you calling him to a dog."

"I don't mind being called a fox," Shippo countered.

"Well that's…" Kagome chuckled, shaking her head, "That's a little different, isn't it?" Inuyasha, unlike Shippo, hated being called his demon side's animal counterpart. Kagome imagined that the word was used as an insult when he lived with his mother, and that was where the negative connotation came from. He didn't like being called a dog, despite his sometimes dog-like behavior. She had tried to throw a stick for Aki once, only for Inuyasha to startle the dog by taking two running steps after it before he composed himself. Or when she wasn't quick to remind him not to shake off when they came in out of the rain. Sometimes he snorted, growled even in play, or barked when he was scaring off badgers. He would deny the barking, saying it was just a shout or a loud grunt, (as if those were less embarrassing) but it sounded awfully like a mid-sized dog's bark, so Kagome wasn't convinced.

"He'll be home soon enough; he wouldn't like to catch you saying that."

Shippo shrugged.

Kagome had expected Inuyasha to be delayed by the snow, but Shippo had already curled up with the dog on the old sleeping bag, and it was well past dark. Kagome wasn't going to worry, but she did want to wait up for him. If he wasn't back in another hour or so, she supposed she would have to go to sleep, but…another twenty minutes went by and she happily prodded at the fire when she felt his aura closing in. She saved him a portion of dinner that she had just started reheating when he walked through the door. He quickly closed it behind him, but the wind chilled all three of the hut's occupants, waking little Shippo. He groaned, rubbing his eyes and blinking over the hanyou who had disturbed his sleep.

"You're late," he grumbled, "Kagome was waiting for you."

Kagome huffed.

"I'm sure he just got held up by the snow," she said turning to her husband as he dusted the wet flakes from his hair.

"Right, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha hesitated before answering.

"Something like that," he muttered, coming to crouch and shake the melted snow from his wet clothes. Kagome shifted uncomfortably. Something didn't seem right.

"Are you okay? Inuyasha?" She asked. She glanced over to where Shippo had rolled back over and fallen asleep. When she tries to meet his eyes, he is staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I just hate dawdlin'. I meant to get back before dark," he grumbled. The annoyed scowl reassured her that it is just her imagination.

* * *

...

"_You're just so adorable like that, Inu. I really want to hear your voice."_

_..._

* * *

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open. It was just a dream. A dream. What was it? He…he couldn't remember what the dream was, but his heart was hammering in his chest and adrenaline had put all his senses on alert. He knew that voice. He knew he knew that voice—heard it from somewhere—it wasn't just constructed by his mind, he had actually heard it from somewhere, but he couldn't for the life of him put a face to the voice. It just left him with anger and disgust and…well he didn't know what else, but he didn't like it.

A nightmare. He looked over to his wife, sleeping beside him, so close to him. He didn't have nightmares anymore. He shouldn't have nightmares anymore. She was supposed to be his cure.

He took a deep breath through his nose. She smelled so warm. Warm and welcoming. Her scent had always been so calming. He pulled her to him and buried his face in all of that wonderful black hair of hers, which smelled so good and put his mind at ease.

"Inuyasha," she mumbled lethargically, "not with Shippo in the house."

Inuyasha chuckled at that, whispering that he didn't want to do anything.

"Okay…" she mumbled. She must only have been half-awake, because she was out in the next instant.

The next day went on fine. The snow had all but melted. Kagome and Shippo's snowman, which was small to start with, was only about half the size at the end of the day. Shippo lamented the rain, which moved in that evening, because it would melt the snowman, along with all the snow that was left in the shady parts of the village. Inuyasha had scoffed. There was still a lot of winter left to go, and he assured the preteen fox that there was still a good chance it would snow again.

They visited with the monk, a little, that day. The girls had been shown their gifts before Inuyasha got there, and while Koyuki initially seemed upset it wasn't a toy, Yukie won her over with her excitement of the gift. They were going to learn a lot from their mother, she told her twin. The young mother and Miko sat and chatted for a bit, so Inuyasha took that as a chance to smack Miroku's shoulder. He gestured with his chin to the door when the monk looked up.

"Yes, Inuyasha?" The violet-clad monk asked upon shutting the door behind him.

"You know that guy we buried—well, _I _buried, anyway—have you ever seen that before? I mean, you seemed kinda like you…" Inuyasha crossed his hands in his sleeves, shifting his weight to one foot.

"Oh, that," Miroku cast his eyes to the ground.

"Before I left the temple…we saw a…a lot of women come after something like that. As a monk, I would have given counselling but…I was just surprised that it was a man. I have never seen that before, though I have heard..."

Inuyasha grunted in acceptance. Miroku swallowed the sudden foul taste in his mouth down. He looked back to his friend, standing silent and still. Had the hanyou pulled him out here, just to ask that question? Well, he supposed it wasn't something Inuyasha wanted Kagome or Sango asking questions about, nor the monk's children hearing about. Inuyasha had some sense of decency. But then, why was it still on his mind?

"Inuyasha? Did seeing that disturb you in some way?"

Inuyasha scoffed.

"Keh. Nah, but I didn't think about it until now, the guys that did that too him couldn't have been far off, their scent was all over the area."

"I see," the monk mumbled. Inuyasha shifted onto his other foot as the conversation fell flat. It wasn't worth discussing, but he had brought it up anyway. Miroku shivered with an exaggerated 'brrr' when an icy breeze blew past and asked his friend to join him back inside. A human body such as his own was not made to be outside without additional robes to shield his weak skin. Inuyasha snorted, tailing behind his friend.

* * *

The night was the same as the last. A disembodied voice that creeped him right the fuck out. A voice he had heard before, somewhere, taunting him. Taunting in a way that seemed different from a lot of his enemies. Inuyasha jerked awake this time. He must have made some sound, because Kagome was blinking at him with a look of confusion when he glanced over, yet no part of her body touched his own.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" She asked, rubbing one eye.

"Uh," he hesitated. It wasn't really anything for her to concern herself with, since he couldn't even remember the dream by now.

"I heard something, but it's not anything to worry about." He did only hear that vice in his head, right?

"You sure?" She laid a hand on his chest. He chuckled. It wasn't a big deal. He just…needed to be touching her, that was all.

"C'mere," he whispered, gripping her wrist and dragging her arm over his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her back next and drug her towards him. She struggled to make some room against him as he held her tightly to his chest. Finally she just turned her head to make some breathing room when his arms refused to slacken.

"Why are you being so cuddly?"

"I'm not allowed to?" He asked in turn, finally loosening his grip enough to meet her eyes. He was certain she couldn't see, but in case she could, he flashed a feigned scowl.

"Well…okay fine." She sighed, straightening her other arm to wrap under his neck.

"I guess I can live with it," she whispered, closing her eyes.

* * *

"_Look at you," the man before Inuyasha said, "You're so adorable as a hanyou, but as a human you're outright sexy, you know that?"_

"_Fuck you," the 15-year-old spat._

_Inuyasha heard footsteps slowly approaching._

"_Now there's an idea!"_

_Inuyasha clamped his teeth together to prevent himself from grunting with the pain in his scalp. Suddenly he was looking eye-to-eye with a sadist, who pleasured in inflicting pain on the males of his choosing. _

"_Oh, you're really not going to give me even a little whimper? I don't think you understand just how much I would love to hear your voice, little Inuyasha." The young boy glared defiantly, despite the pain in his limbs and how he felt almost no strength left in them. His eyes widened when he felt the man's other hand—the one holding his sword—grip the fabric at his neck, tugging to expose his collarbone._

"_It'd be a waste to cut you up into little pieces without hearing you cry out even once. Lets say I take you up on that offer, hm? Would you cry out in pleasure then?" It was then that Inuyasha's expression showed confusion, though he tried to hide it. What the hell was this freak talking about?_

_It only just dawned on the boy what the man meant._

* * *

Inuyasha bolted upright. He was breathing heavily and sweating and his mind kept going over and over the dream.

'_What the hell was..?_' he thought.

Was that just a bad dream? No, Jakotsu had been real. He had killed the bastard himself that day under the mountain. The question was had it happened exactly like that? He knew…he knew that was the first time it ever clicked that a boy could be…but he wasn't sure if the words went quite like—

"Inuyasha?" His eyes darted to meet Kagome's. She blinked wearily before reaching a hand out to place over his own—the one he had balled into a fist without realizing it.

"What's wrong?" She asked, giving his hand a little squeeze. Inuyasha's right hand came up to rub his forehead. He took a second to breath before he could come up with a reply that both wasn't a lie, but did not make him seem so…so weak. He understood that he had been prone to nightmares his entire life. Even when he was young. One of his first memories was of his mother rocking him and singing to him when he'd woken from a nightmare. Such a weak little brat he had been, bawling into his mother's chest. They only continued from there on out.

Yet…there was a period of time when the nightmares wouldn't come. When he got used to carrying Kagome, and having her scent on him it relaxed him, and he slept much more peacefully. When he didn't have her around, that was when they returned. Since they were married, they only nightmares he had were when he was away or the night he had the fever, but as soon as he came home he could bury his face into her hair and breathe deeply. She was his peace. He thought.

'_Kagome…I'm a fool…'_ He looked over to where Shippo and the dog were curled together in sleep. Thankfully, the boy had not woken up to see the concern on Kagome's face, nor the sweat Inuyasha wiped from his brow.

'_I thought maybe…I was done with these damn nightmares, sleeping next to you…'_He thought she was not only his peace of mind, but some sort of cure for the nightmares that had plagued him. He thought he just needed to be near her, or touching her but that proved false. It was no wonder she woke up, he realized. It was cold that night. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was draping his arm over her waist, and throwing one leg over hers. He had woken her with his sudden movement into an upright position. He had been in physical contact with her—facing her—a breath away and completely enveloped in her scent. It had always seemed to work in the past, having her near him…

'_So why all of a sudden?'_ He wondered why—why now? He knew it had something to do with the man he buried, and his own experience with the mere thought of that sort of torture. Although, it wasn't as if he was especially sensitive to that sort of cruelty…then again, he was used to the dreams of agony—different types of agony, where he was murdered or tortured or mutilated, or even dreams of his friends suffering the same fates. That was what he dreamt of. Sometimes, though. Sometimes there were memories. Twisted memories, where something was different from the dream to the actual memory, but he couldn't place it until he woke up. He had never killed Kagome when he transformed. He had never been shot by Kagome. He had never had Jakotsu outright threaten that he was going to—

"Weird fuckin' dream," he replied, at last.

"Don't worry about it," he finished, laying his head back down.

"What kind of dream?" her voice was low, and he shut his eyes against the concern in her eyes that would pry the answers right out of him.

"Shh…" He brought her closer and tucked her head under his chin.

"You've gotta be up early. If we have time and I remember, we can talk then."

She groaned her displeasure, but said nothing afterwords.

* * *

"Shippo, could you leave us alone for a while?" Kagome asked of the kit as they all started on the trip home. Both the hanyou and demon shot her confused looks.

"Um," she hesitated, glancing to Inuyasha before looking back down to the little boy, "Inuyasha and I were supposed to talk about something this morning, but I didn't have enough time to."

"Why do I gotta leave?" Shippo piped back. Inuyasha's groan broke through whatever Shippo wanted to say next. The hanyou man just caught on to what Kagome was referring to.

"You're not still goin' on about that, are you? It was nothin' you need to be worried about."

"Inuyasha, please…" Kagome gave, trying to resist whining. Inuyasha growled, staring off towards the house as they approached it. Kagome shook her head, glancing down to Shippo once again…except Shippo had already left. He was a good boy, most of the time.

Kagome sighed when Inuyasha held the door open for her. She stepped past him and waited for him to shut the door before she spoke.

"About last night, Inuyasha—"

"I dunno why you're bringing this up. It ain't like you've never had a bad dream. You woke up a week back freaked out about some Cal-Q-lus test you ain't gotta deal with no more." Kagome frowned. had she? She couldn't even remember that.

"Well, okay, but do you remember your dream? What was it about?"

Inuyasha's ears flicked back and forth for a second before he gave her a suspicious look.

"Uh…"

"Then…it must have really spooked you if you can remember it well." She caught the mutter of 'I don't "spook"' before he lifted his head.

"Why d'ya wanna know?"

Kagome sighed, taking a seat on the raised wooden floor.

"What I'm _wanting_ to know, is why you've woken up swearing the past three nights."

What? Inuyasha had only made any kind of indication that he had woken up just last…no. Kagome was awake whenever he was, so she had to be woken by something, hadn't he? But he wasn't like Kagome, he didn't talk or kick, or punch in his sleep like she did. Although if he had the last few nights—talking, at least—then it would have differed from the norm and maybe…awoken his sleeping wife.

"You were threatening to…well, you told someone not to touch you, or else…well, you'd neuter them. It was kinda freaky to wake up to, not really something I couldn't picture you saying in a fight…but I wouldn't make a big deal about it, except that three times in a row is hardly a coincidence." She reached up to grab his wrists and pull him towards her, he resisted a little, but Kagome pulled him down to sit beside her.

"Inuyasha, is there something wrong?" He opened his mouth for some sort of dismissive response, but she stared him directly in the eye, and gave him a soft, reassuring smile.

"Maybe even that we should switch teas, or swap sides of the bed or anything that would help you sleep better?" Kagome loved her husband so much. She wanted him to be as happy and comfortable as she could make him, but if he was waking up halfway through the night, there had to be something she could do to help him sleep. Even if there was some external factor keeping him up at night, like the smell of the herbs she brought home from Kaede, or him getting hungry in the middle of the night, she would definitely change something in their routine to make sure he was as comfortable as possible. He had once crinkled his nose at an herb she was preparing, but when she asked if he wanted to do that elsewhere, he blew off her question. She was a Miko, and a healer, so long as she didn't use any of the stuff Sango did when she was making those poisons, he could tolerate it, he had told her.

Inuyasha's brows knit at her declaration. She was giving him an easy out, saying that something in his environment could be causing the bad dreams instead of his own brain, but…she looked at him so lovingly and…Dammit. That trust and honesty thing again.

He looked off towards the door.

"We uh…we found this dead guy lyin' on the side of the road and…" Inuyasha trailed off, Kagome nodding. It wasn't the herbs. Although, it was a dead guy? Well, she could…she supposed that would be pretty shocking or scary—to someone who didn't see death on a regular basis—but this was Inuyasha. He had _created _corpses of men and demon alike. He could sit down to lunch in the middle of a battlefield with skeletons and corpses mummified by the sun and not so much crinkle his nose in disgust so long as he had food. He had buried bodies, and…

She turned a little more towards him, to urge him to continue. She didn't understand, but she wanted to hear the rest. Something was obviously bothering him.

"The, uh…the way he was…well, he was spread open."

Kagome pressed her lips together. She had seen a few corpses with their entrails pulled out, and it always left her wanting to throw up.

"Oh…he was…mutilated?"

"No. Not like his guts and…he was—" Inuyasha took a deep breath. He gestured to his legs and moved them further apart to demonstrate. He cringed as a fleck of anger ran through his mind. He was so fucking bad with explaining things, but he didn't want to have to…show her what he meant. The way he was positioned was like…

"It was pretty obvious what happened, everywhere—" he gestured again to his legs, "blood and—" he stopped.

Kagome had turned away from, hand clasped over her mouth and eyes wide. With a low growl, Inuyasha rose to his feet and took two steps away from his wife.

"Dammit, why the hell we even talkin' 'bout this?" Inuyasha shook his head.

Kagome looked back up to him. She was at a loss for words, but she looked up at him with concern in her eyes. She urged him to continue. Obviously it was bothering him, so talking about it would be a lot better than him trying to blow it off. She didn't know why he was affected so strongly but…if anything, the thought of what Inuyasha found should impact her more, considering that someone had once tried to do the same to her. Inuyasha did seem angry about it, so she supposed…

"I didn't think it could happen to…"

'_A guy,' _he meant to finish the sentence with.

Kagome watched him shift his weight onto one foot. He his tilted his head slightly, meeting her eyes before staring at the ground between them.

"Nah, that ain't true…" he pursed his lips. He looked back to Kagome, who sat there, helpless to find words to continue the conversation. Yet, her eyes were wide and waiting for him. She would tell him nothing but that they needed to talk if he stopped here.

"You remember those human mercenaries?" He paused, but not for Kagome's reply.

"Of course you do," he finished with a mutter. He missed Kagome's eyes shifting and looking down to where her hands were twisting in her hakama, suddenly. A cold feeling set into the back of her neck. She didn't…how had he found out about Mukotsu? Had someone told him in the three years she was gone? Wait…If he was reacting to what had—what almost had—happened to her, and if that was giving him nightmares then, she—they—maybe they should have talked about this. She felt…she felt almost guilty that _that_ was what was affecting took a breath and smoothed her clothes again. Inuyasha had failed to see her expression, but what he heard was the quiet '_I'm sorry_,' from the woman behind him.

He shook his head, she obviously had the wrong idea, he was only talking about the dream, since Jakotsu had never actually…but she spoke before he had a chance to.

"I didn't think you knew about that. It's not like, well, in the end he didn't do anything to me, so I just didn't realize you would feel…" she felt heat on her, and lifted her head to the pair of luminescent irises boring into her. They shone with an unnatural iridescence between the interwoven radials of yellow and orange that only a demon's could—a demon who was bordering on livid with not so much containment as to keep his breathing steady.

"What?"

Kagome's brows knit.

"What do you mean '_he_ didn't do anything _to you_?" His voice was measured and slow, and Kagome didn't like it one bit.

"Who the fuck is '_he'_?" He said, in that same, slow, measured tone, but his voice was lower, and came with his heavier breathing. The question made her feel all the more uncomfortable by the way Inuyasha's face which showed immediate anger was slowly mixing with confusion and horror.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Kagome swallowed thickly.

"You didn't…Inuyasha, what were you meaning? When you said 'mercenaries' I assumed you meant…"

"I was talking about that sadistic fuckin'—Jakotsu. Now who the hell—"

Kagome slapped both hands over her mouth. Had he…? Oh god, when he was in that mountain with the lot of them, did Jakotsu..?

"He didn't touch me beside cuttin' me into ribbons with that damn sword—" Inuyasha snapped at the question he knew was coming before Kagome had time to ask it. He wasn't going to pretend like he held up better against Jakotsu.

"So who the hell are you talking about?"

Kagome was off-put by his suddenly angry tone, and shook her head in response.

"It…Mukotsu."

"Mukotsu…Mukotsu…"Inuyasha mumbled. He couldn't recall if he had ever met the bastard.

"He didn't touch you, right? He didn't lay a single fucking finger on you?" Inuyasha knew, obviously, what he _hadn't_ done, from his experience, and from what she had just said, but what _had_ he done to her?

"No. I'll be honest, he…leaned over me, but I stabbed him, trying to get the shards before he could touch me. Miroku and Sango came, then Sesshomaru killed him. It's done." Kagome closed her eyes when Inuyasha snarled and rocked onto his heels.

"Why are you so angry? It's in the past, and nothing even happened so?"

"They all knew? Everyone knew what happened and nobody said a word to me?" His face twisted with a louder snarl.

"**Goddammit**! Where **the ****fuck** was I?" The volume nearly hurt her ears, but the following sigh he let out formed an apology.

"I just…I should have been protecting you."

Kagome stood and took a step towards him.

"Inuyasha…"

"Sesshomaru killed him right? So yeah I guess I'll just have to leave it." Kagome almost let out a sigh of relief. However, there was still...

"Inuyasha…those nightmares you've been having…are they about Jakotsu?"

Inuyasha huffed for her reply.

"What…what happened? You said he didn't…"

"Shit. No he just said a lotta shit that didn't make a whole lotta sense."

"Okay…"

Inuyasha took a deep breath.

"Look, he didn't say anything, not outright where it sounded like someone with their brains intact talking. Said somethin' about beggin' him on my knees, and it didn't fuckin' click until it did." He snarled with the last bit, the sound very much like a beast more than a man.

Inuyasha finally made eye contact with his wife. Her hands were raised, ready to hold him if he wanted it, and her eyes were blinking back a shine that he couldn't quite smell the salt of yet. She was such a crybaby. Well, she had a lot of empathy, sympathy—whatever it was and she was so caring. She was so perfect despite her temper, her clumsiness, her—everything that made her Kagome. The thought of someone wanting to hurt her always made his blood boil.

"If anyone ever gets the thought in their head of hurting you like that, I'll kill him. If he even says he wants to do something like that to you, I'll rip his lungs out through his fucking stomach, you hear me?"

Kagome's hands fell to her sides and she took a seat once more. She shook her head before looking up again.

"And what would that solve?" Her voice was even, and she stared directly into his eyes. Infuriated amber eyes, which were not angry with her, but angry at something that had not happened, angry at dead men and angry at men who may not exist. No, he was angry that those men do exist, even if their thoughts and actions weren't directed towards his wife. Her gaze held his, strong and unyielding, but so soft. She was so calm.

He felt some of the tension leave him and he lowered his shoulders. What had she asked him? He didn't remember, but the look she was giving him was so stern and somehow so calm.

"What?" he asked in an exhale from a breath he did not know he was holding.

"What would killing one man solve? Would it take back his words? Would killing a man who had acted on his words take anything back, either?" She asked him, watching his eyes become unfocused, thinking over her words carefully. Men, by nature, want to fix things. They see it as their duty, and in that, get angry when, deep down, they know they can't fix something—can't make it right again. They will try anyway.

She watched Inuyasha calm enough to sit back beside her.

"It would make me feel better, knowing the guy was dead, and that I killed him."

Kagome rubbed her hands over her arms. She could understand the feeling but…

"I guess," Inuyasha started "I just don't like those kind of people existing. We killed Naraku because screwed over all of us…but…we also killed him because he kept fucking up everyone's lives, human and demon, and he prob'ly would have killed or fucked up a lot more if we hadn't."

Kagome's eyes slowly opened wide as she stared at her husband…he…he had a point, didn't he?

"It's the same thing, right? I uh…" Inuyasha swallowed thickly.

"I've killed some guys but—"

"Oh, Inuyasha, don't!" She plead, suddenly gripping his arm.

"What you did you did to protect your friends and yourself."

"That's kinda what I'm gettin' at. Bastards like Naraku, Jakotsu, the whole lot of them, liked…doin' shit like that, killing—fucking with people—got off on it, and that's why…" Inuyasha pushed the hand his wife wasn't holding through the hair at his forehead.

"I don't know where the hell I was goin' with that." Kagome rubbed his hand. She knew perfectly well what he meant. She told him this, and also that she couldn't explain it any better than he had.

Kagome noted that Inuyasha had not woken her with a nightmare that night…but she knew that was because he had insomnia keeping him up the night before. Inuyasha didn't deny it when she asked if he slept at all that night.

When they returned home that evening, Kagome plopped herself right on his lap, confusing her hanyou husband. Shippo cringed when Kagome peppered his face with kisses, and snuggled into his chest. She made him a special tea that would help him relax—it helped humans, anyway. She pulled him into bed earlier than usual, so that he might have extra time to sleep. The plan backfired, since now Kagome was not sleeping either. They stayed up late, whispering to one another to not wake the sleeping fox at the other end of the room. She told him, repeatedly, how much she loved him as they relayed stories back and forth as they had done early on in their marriage. Every so often, she would kiss him, and he would stare back at her in wonder before coming to kiss her back.

They didn't sleep until an hour before sunrise, but when they did, it was peacefully. There were no nightmares, and no thoughts of the murderous promise he had made her. Kagome wasn't a cure for nightmares. She was a good support system, though, and she wanted so much to be there for Inuyasha, and help him through anything that stands in the way of his peace of mind. When they woke hours later, it was from a small dog climbing over them and whining, impatiently wondering when she was going to be fed.

* * *

...

* * *

This was a doozy to write. It was one of the original dozen chapters or so I had when I was in the planning stages, so I wasn't going to chicken out. For me, though, it was something I wanted to get off my chest. Also, Inuyasha's reaction of anger at the thought of that sort of...violation is quite normal, especially for men. Perhaps not the best response, but quite normal.

Jakotsu, that we know of, never directly said anything of wanting to violate Inuyasha, but almost every word that came out of his mouth towards Inuyasha was an innuendo. "I want to be covered in your blood" "You'll be begging on your knees 'oh Jakotsu, please be gentle' 'Oh Jakotsu, just hold me a little longer'" and him wanting to hear Inuyasha scream are all very sexual in nature, along the sadistic scale, where one derives sexual pleasure from the pain and/or humiliation of others. Both Inuyasha and Kagome had unwanted sexual advances from members of the bad of seven, and while it's terrible, it is one of the things they have in common.

On a lighter note, I have never owned a dog, but whenever I visit a friend who has a well-behaved dog, I somehow always end up using the dog as a pillow, or the dog using me as a pillow for naps. I love dogs. I had to write in that Shippo and the dog curl up together at night, because that's as good a situation as I can think of. Shippo has a warm body to curl up with that doesn't involve getting between the lovey-dovey couple.


	27. A Little Too Much

**A Little Too Much**

Kagome's breathing was shaky now. She twisted her hands in cloth of her robes beneath her as she whined aloud.

"Inu...ya…sha…"

A deep growl came as her response from her husband, who loved hearing his name in that desperate tone. He bent down to kiss her shoulder, but it wasn't always easy from this angle, coming to press his chest to her back. He made a decision, then, that that angle wouldn't work well enough for his purposes, wrapping both arms around his wife's belly and lifting her up into a kneeling position. Kagome squeaked, turning her head as far as she could to look at her husband. All she got to see was white hair as he dipped forward to kiss her neck.

He was so bad about that. Even though it was winter, and she was pretty much wearing a scarf everywhere, that still didn't make it okay to leave hickeys on her neck. He crossed his arm between her breasts to hold her shoulder and push her securely to his chest. She smiled, reaching one arm up to stroke his. He began to suck a little on the spot he was kissing, to undoubtedly create a new mark.

"Inuyasha," she tried to chastise before he moved his hips at an awkward angle.

"Ah, no," he muttered. The feeling wasn't quite right. She was too much shorter than him.

"Kagome, move your legs a little," he instructed, pushing on one of her thighs. She moved them as he showed her, but something still wasn't right.

"Ah, maybe just lean a little—yeah, yeah like that." He replaced his hand on her belly, pressing in with the pressure she liked when her giggle stopped his first new push into her.

"Ah, Kagome don't laugh." Her body did funny things to his when she laughed. Of course, him telling her not to laugh made her giggle more. He grunted and bowed his forehead against the back of her neck.

"Don't," he panted suddenly, "you better stop that, unless you want this to be over real quick," he couldn't help the chuckle in his own voice. Kagome realized then that this position gave her a little more leeway in terms of movement, and she pushed back against her husband.

"Kagome," he grunted, unable to resist the movement of her body, moving his hips up to meet her backside. She liked the feeling of his arms trapping her chest. She felt warm and secure, and it was nice. She liked how easy it was to move with her husband like this and she couldn't help but giggle when the sound he made every few moments showed that he liked it too.

"Ka…haha. Kagome don't do that," he said, his own laughter influenced by hers. She pushed back against him, still laughing.

"Why should I?"

"Because—oh fuck—" he curled against her, breathing heavily and stilling his movements.

"Damn that was close." Kagome smiled wickedly and pushed back against him with a slightly different angle.

"Oh screw it," Inuyasha ground out. He grasped tightly to her hips and tilted her at an angle so he could easily move more quickly. Kagome bit her lip as a whimper rose out of her throat, her grasping hands reaching back to grip either of his wrists. She arched her back when his breath was hot against her neck again. He whispered her name and nipped at her skin—another thing he wasn't supposed to do given that his incisors were sharper than a human's—but she shuddered, her whole body tensing at the sensation, and it was then that Inuyasha's grip tightened on her and his movement became erratic, his voice coming out as barely a whimper. When he held his hips still against her, he came down to sit back on his calves, pulling Kagome down to sit on his legs. He had figured it was going to be a quick little experience, with Kagome rushing Shippo out of the house that morning, so it wasn't bad, all things considered.

"I didn't mean to bite you," he said before sighing and wrapping his arms loosely around his wife's belly. She placed her hands back on his forearms.

"It's alright, you didn't break the skin," she relayed. Inuyasha soothed the irritated red skin with his tongue. He didn't bite down, knowing full well how easily he could hurt her lest he get carried away. He left one more kiss before sighing again and resting his forehead on his lovely little Miko's shoulder. She was so warm, and he was so comfortable sitting there skin-to-skin with her on his lap. Suddenly she shivered and he felt goosebumps rise up on her skin. It was the middle of winter, so he really should let her get dressed so they could head to Kaede's. Although, the sudden onset of goosebumps reminded him of something.

"Ah yeah, if you can come home before the kid, I'll definitely pay you back."

"Hm? Pay me back for what?" Kagome asked, tilting her head only enough to see one fuzzy ear. He tilted his head to rub his face into the side of her neck. She always smelled so, so good covered in his scent.

"You didn't get to finish," he said, kissing up on her jaw. Kagome squeaked at the observation. Maybe not this morning, but she had three lovely little marks on her left thigh from two mornings ago. She was about to protest when Inuyasha pulled his arms from her belly and patted her shoulder.

"C'mon, we gotta get dressed. It's freezing in here."

* * *

"You guys just got back," Kagome all but whined. Inuyasha shrugged.

"We weren't even gone a day."

"I thought you said demon activity was supposed to go down in the winter?" Kagome said with a sigh. She looked up to Rin, sitting across from her and working diligently on her embroidery pattern. Kaede paid no mind to the talking couple as she worked to get the baking going in her kamado stove's oven. Inuyasha didn't respond immediately as he watched Kagome put her bow over her chest. She wished Kaede well and left out the door with her husband, where he continued the conversation.

"Yeah, down here, but as you get closer to the mountains there's a lot more, I guess." Inuyasha's nose twitched, trying to pick up on the fox's scent. He turned down the path that lead up the side of bare fields. He sighed when he looked back at Kagome, looking around trying to catch a glimpse of the orange puffball.

"If you don't want me to go, I won't. It ain't like I like leavin' you any more than you like me goin'." He waited for Kagome to look back at him before he turned away.

Kagome looked over the side of her husband's face and…well, she really did start to miss him if they were separated for _too_ long, but if this trip panned out, he would earn a little money, either coins or something they could use or trade. Kagome thought on that for a few moments. They really could use a little money right now. They didn't have much use for funds right now, but Kagome was planning…she hoped…to add an extra expense soon enough. She hadn't really talked to him about it yet, but every time she had alone time with Inuyasha…she got sidetracked. Well, not that what she wanted to talk to him about didn't have _something_ to do with the distracting activity, it just wasn't something they should just walk into haphazardly. Maybe if she had some alone time to talk to him without the possibility of getting distracted, she could bring up the topic.

"Um, actually, I was wondering if maybe I could go with you this time?"

The second the words left her mouth, Inuyasha's eyebrows knit together and he have her a uncertain look, staring at her from the corner of his eye. Kagome bit her lip and thought up a response before he had a chance to say no. She didn't understand why he didn't like her going with him. Sure, he got pretty banged up the last time, but that was because they hadn't established what she could and could not handle on her own; he was still overprotective of her.

"Well, since you _did_ just get back, it would be good to give Miroku a break. He has children, after all, I'm sure they would like to see their daddy more often. And it wouldn't be like I'm abandoning the village, I mean, Kaede was the only Miko in the area for some time, and she would leave for other villages for days at a time, so it isn't too unusual. We could leave Shippo with Kaede and Rin likes Aki, so I'm sure we could convince her to watch her for us…" She clasped her hands together.

"And I would really like some time alone with you, just to talk, without all the distractions of work and Shippo, the dog…I thought maybe we could do that on the road." She looked up to her husband expectantly, taking a quick step to walk ahead of him to look at his face. He grunted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I guess you don't really need my permission…make sure you bring your boots, it might snow where we're headed."

* * *

"Well, looks like we're done here," Inuyasha said, sheathing his sword. Kagome cocked her head to the side as she watched the demons scurrying in the opposite direction.

"But you didn't do anything." He had pulled out his sword, barked a warning at them, and when they asked who he thought he was, he gave his name, and off they went, scrambling over each other to get away from the big scary hanyou with the sword longer than he was tall.

Inuyasha put his hands on his hips.

"Nope. Eh, they won't be back. They knew my name, so they know what I'll do to 'em if they bother any more humans." With that, they walked back to the village for what Inuyasha deemed an annoying process of getting their payment. It was nearing dark, so part of the payment, the village head decided, was a meal and a place to stay for the night, much to Inuyasha's irritation. It wasn't as if he was unhappy to keep Kagome inside and with a full belly on a frosty winter's night, but why the hell did a meal always mean dining with the headman's _entire_ extended family. He downed the half the first saucer of sake that came his way, slowly sipping it, and then the second. He needed to be a little buzzed to handle this noise. The worried glances some of the men threw him, and the quiet whispers from the women always annoyed him. Damn, alcohol moved through his system too fast. It would wear off quickly, but it also went to his head fast, making him more than a little dizzy.

Kagome sighed when she watched Inuyasha set his cup down with a scowl, before throwing a quick 'I'm getting out of here,' to her and stepping out the door. She reached over to grab his half-empty cup and set it beside hers. This trip hadn't gone how she had planned at all. She had meant to talk to Inuyasha on the way here, but…she felt silly about it now. Why couldn't she just open her mouth and say something to him. They had travelled all day, too, only making it out here in the late afternoon. She had plenty of time to talk with him but she hadn't done it.

She raised his leftover saucer of water to her face—nobody had seen her grab it to think it odd she didn't mind sharing a vessel with her demon "bodyguard"—before she got a good whiff of it. She crinkled her nose and pulled it away from her face. Alcohol. Well, that explained why it wasn't in a regular cup. She paused, staring at the vessel in her hand.

Inuyasha drank? Since when? He hadn't looked like he was new to it either. She had seen him drunk before—accidentally, of course—but she didn't know he would purposely seek out the drink. She swirled the liquid in the vessel for a second in thought. She wondered what type it was. She couldn't tell by the scent alone, all she smelled was the alcohol. Well…she _was_ almost twenty, so in her old world she might be going out with friends in just a few months to celebrate her birthday.

One of the women nearby laughed when Kagome stuck her tongue out after a sip of the stuff.

"Is it a little strong, Miko-sama?" The woman asked, one brow raised. Kagome blushed, the woman's words having drawn the attention of two men sitting near her. She did not want to be the center of attention.

"N-not really. I…I, um, I've just never had alcohol before," Kagome replied, turning her gaze back down to her half-eaten meal, quickly popping a pickle into her mouth before she had the chance to say something stupid. That wasn't entirely true. She had once taken her mother's cup by mistake at a friend's wedding. She didn't know what was in it, but her mother chuckled and patted her back when Kagome ended up coughing and looking for some water to chase the taste down. Her mother told her to try sipping it the next time, but Kagome wasn't very into the idea of going anywhere near whatever had been in that cup.

"Really? Well, try taking a bite of food before you have another sip. It's not bad."

Inuyasha left out of there and settled himself into a tree, far enough away where the noise of the meal wouldn't bother him, but he could watch out for Kagome should she decide it was time to retire for the night. He had probably drank a little too quickly, since he wasn't getting that "warm, cozy feeling" like he normally would when he was drinking with Miroku. Miroku knew Inuyasha's drinking metabolism better than the hanyou did himself, and usually kept tabs on how much Inuyasha was drinking. By the time he heard footsteps approaching, he figured that he had just bypassed the tipsy stage altogether, and was basically back to sober. He heard a quiet 'oops' and what sounded like a rock being kicked over before he looked down to find his wife. He jumped down in front of her, making her jump a little.

"You ain't headed to bed already, are ya?"

"Ah, no, I was actually was hoping we could talk about something." Inuyasha cringed when he smelled her breath.

"That's part of why I wanted to come, so we could talk," she continued.

"Hey, you been drinkin'?" The question was rhetorical, but he examined the way she shrugged a little and smiled without prompting.

"You're drunk."

"No, no. It's just dark." Inuyasha's brows knit in confusion. What did that have to do with anything?

"Kagome, why were you drinking?" He asked, his voice accusing. Kagome frowned, setting a hand on her hip.

"Hey, that's not fair, you were drinking too. I mean, that's why I started, I finished your cup for you."

Inuyasha cocked his head to the side. She was clearly well liquored up. She wouldn't have gotten that way from…what was left of his third (maybe it was his forth?) saucer of sake.

"Kagome, how much did you drink?"

"I…" She laughed and shrugged, "I dunno, really. I don't think that much, this is my first time drinking, so I didn't wanna overdo it, you know?" Inuyasha groaned, setting both his hands on her shoulders. She had already overdone it. He could tell by how little her sentences made sense in his mind. Common sense anyway, dictated that you were supposed to keep track of how much you were having, lest you wind up…was she wobbling? He had his hands on her shoulders and he was quite sure of it.

"Okay, well you're going to bed now," he said, scooping one hand under her knees to pick her up. Kagome kicked a little with the motion.

"Hey no, no, put me down," she said, swatting at his chest, "I came out here to talk to you, so I don't wanna go to bed now." Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but set her down as per her wishes. The second her feet were on the ground she fell forward and he stood her back up, letting her grab at the cloth of his shoulders to steady herself.

"Okay," she said, noting her stumble, "I might be a little tipsy." A little? Yeah, no shit. More than a little 'tipsy'.

She looked up into her husband's eyes, which widened in surprise when she said very deliberately:

"I want to have a baby." Inuyasha opened his mouth to respond, but slowly closed it. He raised his eyebrows when she sent him a cute little smile.

"As in now? Not a little ways off? Like, _now_?"

"Oh," Kagome squeaked, "is tonight a good night for it? We could do it right now, then, if you want." Inuyasha grunted, his face returning to a scowl.

"No, not _right now_ right now. Kagome that's—"

"Oh, it's okay if you don't wanna do it with people around, I always wanted to try it out in the woods," Kagome said, giggling and wrapping her arms around his waist—looking less and less in control of her mental processes by the second. Just how much had she had to drink?

"No, Kagome, it's fuckin' freezin' out."

"Oh okay, well if we go inside we'll just have to be quiet…" Inuyasha started to roll his eyes when she continued, "wait, do you even know how to be quiet? You're usually very loud. Not that I don't like it but you can't do—" Inuyasha couldn't hear the rest over his own groan. Ah, liquid courage. He tipped his head back, staring into the trees above.

"Kagome, we're not gonna do it," he said pointedly, tipping his head back down to stare at his wife. Reason number one, they were guests in an unfamiliar region. There was nothing good about doing _that _in a stranger's home. An inn, maybe, but definitely not someone's home. Reason number two, she was drunk. Drunk people were unpredictable, there were a number of things that could go wrong, there. Especially if it were the proper time of the month, and she woke up with no desire to have a baby. It also included someone hearing what they were doing if she lost some sense of where they were in her state. Reason number three, if someone came to see why moans, as if she were in pain, were coming from the Miko's room, they would catch them. Not only would they get kicked out, it would ruin her reputation as a Miko, to be sleeping with her "bodyguard" and her reputation as a woman to be doing such things with a "demon". Even if they remained quiet, surely someone would notice the smell come morning, and with the only male in her presence being Inuyasha himself, they could put two and two together. Inuyasha knew what sort of names she would be called for that occurring. He knew that from the whispers his own mother never commented on.

Inuyasha had some common sense. His wife pouted, but seemed to accept his short statement, even without him stating the detailed reasoning he had gone over in his head.

"Okay, if you don't want to, that's fine, I guess."

Inuyasha sighed.

"Lets get you to bed, so you can sleep this shit off." He picked her up once again and carried her off to her their room. He met a few people along the way and sent them glares, telling them that _someone_ had let the Miko have too much to drink, which was why he had to carry her. They looked at each other with sheepish looks, having felt the feigned threat from the hanyou. He deposited his wife on the futon that had been laid out on her side of the privacy screen, but she whined when he started to walk away.

"Relax," he told her, taking Tessaiga from his hip, "I always sleep by the wall, remember?" He plopped down in front of the screen and Kagome frowned at him. He suspected that it was probably fuzzy, but she had some recall that they had to pretend that they weren't married for their ventures. Kagome huffed, turning on her side to face him better.

"I'm serious about the baby Inuyasha. I want to have one, soon." Inuyasha frowned, but after a second he nodded. She wasn't bad off enough that her speech was effected, so that was something. Yet, she was still drunk, and he wouldn't hold her to what she said when her brain was all out of order as it seemed to be.

"Okay then. Just, lets talk about this when you're sober, though. If you're sure right now, I don't want you changin' your mind on me."

* * *

"Oh my gggodddd," Kagome groaned, digging her palm into her temple.

"That's about what I figured," Inuyasha scoffed, handing her a cup of water. Kagome squinted at the offering, but brought it to her nose, thinking, gratefully, that even Inuyasha knew that the 'hair of the dog that bit her' was not an accurate cure for a hangover. She gulped down the water and Inuyasha poured her another. He wanted to get as much water into her as possible before they set out with a full container of water for her to drink along the way home.

"Why'd you let me drink so much?"

"I didn't do anythin'. You did that you yourself." Kagome scowled. Inuyasha had probably had as much to drink as she had, probably more, actually, but he seemed fine. She was hoping the 'demons don't get hangovers' logic was about the same as the 'demons don't get sick' one, so that he would at least share in a little bit of her pain.

"Okay, well don't let me do that again."

Inuyasha chuckled. Kagome sent him a glare.

"How did you end up drinking anyway? It looked like last night wasn't your first time."

"Miroku," Inuyasha gave, shrugging. He had picked up at least a few habits from the monk, including indulging in liquor whenever it was offered. It hadn't been until the twins were born that Miroku had convinced Inuyasha to take a 'celebratory' drink. The hanyou had been drunk before, but it had never been on his own accord, and he had always been thoroughly intoxicated, rather than that fine line bordering buzzed, but not yet drunk. It was kind of a nice feeling, but it was terribly easy for him to overdo it with how unusually he processed the stuff, compared to a human. Miroku had learned from years spent with Hachi how demons processed alcohol, so it only made sense that he would have a decent understanding going into drinking with his hanyou friend.

Inuyasha and Kagome left for home about an hour after dawn, and when Kagome had a small breakfast in her stomach. Inuyasha carried their small official payment—a bag of rice—under his clothes. He was glad to see Kagome was still chugging the water as they went, even having him break the ice over a frozen creek to refill the container. It was freezing out, but there didn't seem to be storm clouds anywhere in sight, which is why Inuyasha's senses went up on high alert when there was snow up to his ankles up ahead, that hadn't been there yesterday. He stretched his hand out to halt his wife, and she immediately scanned the surrounding forest. She recognized his stance, with his nose sniffing and his hears flicking around atop his head. She didn't feel any demonic auras…

"Yuki-onna," Inuyasha muttered. Kagome's eyebrows scrunched together at the statement.

"We're in Yuki-onna territory. We need to take a detour." Inuyasha's voice was serious, and Kagome found herself climbing onto her husband's back as he started to backtrack. When he was running along, she asked what had him so worried. Normally he wouldn't care about going through a demon's territory, he would just plow on through and beat up anything that tried to fight him.

"Yuki-onna ain't a demon. Not exactly. She ain't something I can fight, more of a ghost than anything."

"A ghost?"

"Yeah. I mean, she is a demon but…hey Sango ever tell you this? She said something like all demons were created from humans, like with Gashadokuro. They start out as ghosts, but you get enough people in one area dyin' a hunger, they form Gashadokuro. She's kinda like that, but she's just the one ghost that froze to death, so not enough…I dunno, energy to form something you can kill. The original Inugami were dogs that were buried and starved 'fore they got their heads cut off, and they was the same way, you couldn't really kill them."

"Unless you're a Miko, who could put it to rest." Kagome said, squeezing her husband's shoulders.

"Yeah well, whatever. I don't like it. Don't wanna deal with it. We're going around while you still got that hangover." Kagome sighed, accepting of his answer. Her headache was much better, but she was still severely dehydrated, and it probably would be best to…

"Dammit," Inuyasha muttered when he noticed big, wet flakes coming down. He looked up ahead to see that the path all the way back to the village they had just come from was slowly being covered in snow. He picked up the pace towards it. One thing Yuki-onna were good at was disorienting travelers, even animals demons with sharp noses and keen senses of directions. It was ten minutes later when Inuyasha realized the entire ground looked the same, and he couldn't figure out which way was which.

* * *

...

* * *

The first part of this story took inspiration from an inuijiness picture on tumblr. Search her nsfw tag, and you'll know which one I mean, hah. I'm pulling a lot of these demonic facts out of thin air, just basic stuff from memory and some stuff I added just for fun. I try to keep the amount of research I do as small as possible. I just needed a fluffy chapter after chapter 26. My goal for chapter 28 might end up stretched between 28 and 29, we'll see if I can squeeze it into one chapter, since I'm trying to keep all my chapters 2,500-8,000 words for at least a minor level of consistency.


	28. A Child Buried in White

**A Child Buried in White**

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, when they had been running for some time without so much as a peep out of her husband, nor any clue where they were.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Inuyasha muttered when the wind blew past, and he held tighter to Kagome's legs. Kagome squinted around, trying to get a grip of just what was going on. She shook her head when her ears popped. She thought she saw something when she reopened her eyes. A flurry of fine powder whipped around them, and Kagome stuck her hand out to point off to the left. Slowly, the form of a person became visible through the haze. Inuyasha could probably make out the figure better than Kagome could, judging by the low growl she both heard and felt through his back.

When Kagome could just make out the dark eyes on her otherwise white form through the haze of snow whipping past, white hair and long kimono, the figure spoke.

"Hello there." Her voice was soft and even despite the snow fluttering around, and the wind tugging at the pair's clothes.

Inuyasha sneered. She looked opaque enough, but her kimono was crossed backwards as a dead person's should be. He watched her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, unaffected by the wind that had his own sweeping into his face, however, and he knew that this was no corporeal being. She had no scent.

"Have you seen my child?" Yuki-onna asked gently, her gaze sweeping over the pair. Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, but Kagome squeezed her husband's shoulders and spoke before he had the chance to.

"I'm sorry miss, but we haven't seen any children along the road. Have you been looking long?"

Even without viewing his face, Kagome knew her hanyou's lips were twisted into a sneer, giving her a sideways glance and wondering where her brain was, as he always did in these situations. He was good for not voicing this, however, as the woman nodded. She clasped her hands together and stared directly into the Miko's eyes.

"It has not been long, but if you have not seen him, then it cannot be helped." Her eyes turned off to the side.

Kagome squeaked, tucking her face into Inuyasha's shoulder as the wind came up furiously in the other direction, chilling her to the bone. Just like that, the storm died down and the woman was gone as well. Inuyasha stood up out of his defensive posture and Kagome looked out over his shoulder, examining the white expanse that lay before them. They had been travelling through some sparse forest, but as Kagome looked around, the only patches of forest she saw were well over a kilometer off from their position. Inuyasha had a very good sense of direction, there was no way he would purposely take them off course and up into…

She looked up into the mountains above, and the valley off a ways. It was no wonder her ears had popped.

"Kagome, why d'ya always gotta do that?"

"You don't listen," she mumbled, disinterestedly as she pushed away from her husband's shoulders, turning her head around, trying to get some sense of her bearings.

"What?"

"I'm pretty good with spirits, I told you before, if you'd been listening." She had probably told him each of her ghostly encounters from high school at least twice, but he was never good at remembering anything she told him.

"I heard ya, yeah, but I still don't like how calm you—"

"Inuyasha? Do you know where we are?"

Inuyasha's ears flapped back and forth with her words as his eyes scanned his surroundings through the small bits of flurries that remained.

"Shit," he swore, "yeah, I know where we are, but goddammit, I been runnin' in the wrong direction this whole time." They were way off course now, and there was now no hope of reaching Kaede's village by sundown. How could he be so stupid? He usually had a great sense of direction but that damned Yuki-onna…well, there was nothing he could to about it now but get back on track. They were pretty far up the foothills now, and now they had to go all the way around. Dammit.

* * *

The crash of the snow was deafening, and hard to ignore for either of the pair, but Inuyasha judged it as a small avalanche, and too far off for it to effect them directly. It was when the roar of snow quieted that Inuyasha swore. Shouting voices. Voices calling for their loved ones. He was following the sounds of the voices when they spotted a man frantically digging through the snow and a child standing by, looking right around scared to death. The man hardly looked up when Kagome spoke, quickly asking who had been buried.

"M-Miko-sama, it's my two eldest sons," he relayed. Inuyasha's ear twitched atop his head for a moment, listening for movement beneath the snow before sinking his claws into the compacted powder. He dug into a snow, and one second he was pushing a mass of snow through his legs, and the next, he had a boy pulled out of the snow by the front of his Mino coat. He deposited the boy beside Kagome, who saw to the shivering, scared boy right away. He listened under the snow, eyes scanning the surface, until he heard something clawing their way up, and he dove into the snow, digging as he had done for the first boy. He grabbed hold of some limb, and for a moment, he was angry that the man brought such as small child out here. The arm he held by the elbow was so small…but then, the man had said his "eldest" sons, hadn't he?

He was surprised when he saw the snowy-white hair sitting atop the tiny face that stared up at him for a brief second with wide blue eyes, before they fell shut and the child fainted. This was a child, but it was a fox kit, and not a human boy like he had been expecting. Inuyasha stared for a second, he couldn't just leave them, so he tucked the child under his arm and started to listen, once again, for any signs of movement.

"Over here!" He called to the father as he located more muffled sounds under the snow. The man looked up and clambered over the snow as quickly as he could as Inuyasha plowed through the snow one-handed until he could grab the collar of his happi jacket and drag him out of there. The father pulled the young boy into an embrace. Inuyasha's brow quirked, noticing that the boy's scents were identical. A set of twins, about twelve years old. The man looked to Inuyasha to thank him, but his eyes widened when he really took a second to take in the young man's appearance. White hair, yellow eyes, and two triangular ears sitting atop his head. His eyes fell to the little demon the larger held, presuming it to be the demon's own child, given the white hair. The man swallowed thickly, turning his gaze away and gratefully breathed a word of thanks to the demon who had helped dig out his boys.

Inuyasha turned back towards Kagome with the other two children before tilting his head down. He looked down to the little fox he held, noting that, unlike the boys, who also carried the scent of their father, and a feminine scent he assumed was their mother, this kit smelled only of himself. As if he had not had contact with a parental figure in weeks or more…but…he was so small, how could he..? Kagome had then seen the little child tucked under Inuyasha's arm, scared at why he had passed out so quickly.

"He's just the type scared of his own shadow, didn't expect to see a bigger demon draggin' him outta the snow." Foxes, were, in fact, preyed upon by many larger demons, and it was no wonder the little boy thought he was going to be eaten. And he did seem very little. If Shippo was six or seven when Kagome first met him, this child was about the same age as Sango's twins. What were they going to do with the boy? They had to get the two human children home and warm, but they couldn't just leave the kitsune out in the snow without knowing where his den was, Kagome reasoned. Inuyasha, then, made a quick decision that they would just have to wait for him to wake up and tell them where he lived. He tucked the tiny boy into the extra fabric of his suikan. He decided to bring it up later as Inuyasha pulled one shivering preteen onto his back, and the father took the other. Kagome carried the smallest of the boys, the younger brother that had been at his father's side so that they could hurry faster.

The man had been out hunting rabbits, Inuyasha noticed, seeing the rabbits strung across the man's back.

"Yes, that's right," the man said hurriedly. He had been taking his boys on a hunting trip, and he would rather not say much more, though his curiosity got him then.

"What is a Miko and…well, what are you two doing all the way out here?" Kagome didn't miss the way he referred to Inuyasha, but answered readily.

"We were on our way back from a trip, but we were blown off course by the Yuki-onna, so we've had to go around. She spoke to us when the storm was at its thickest, asking for her child."

"The Yuki-onna you say? It couldn't have been ours." The man shook his head as he trudged forward.

"You all know the one that gave us an extra day's travel into this stupid place?" Inuyasha griped.

"Well, I know of one, but she wouldn't go blowing travelers off course. She causes an odd summer storm from time to time, but if you are not caught out in it, there is no harm done. In fact, there is usually a few animals that froze to death for an easy catch the following day. Although, some don't feel as…warmly towards her…but she certainly doesn't go about asking for a child if one should come across her."

"Do you think she caused the avalanche?" came a voice from Inuyasha's back. The man in front of Inuyasha grunted.

"Yoshio, don't say that. The avalanche happened on its own."

The man's responses made Kagome curious, but she said nothing on the subject until they reached the man's small village, set against a rock face. They all hurried inside the man's house where they surprised his wife and daughter when the lot crowded into the tiny space. The woman had some hot water set on already, and gave the boys that to drink, since they had no tea. They worked to get the boys warmed further and thanked the pair. As they walked back out with the man, they realized the time.

"I wouldn't want you two traveling at night, and I would offer you refuge in my home, but it's difficult to fit my own family, and certainly wouldn't be comfortable. I'll see if anyone will let you stay the night." With that, the man left them to race off to his neighbors. It really was standing room only with the two boys sitting down and their mother starting on their supper. Kagome tapped Inuyasha's shoulder asking about the boy they had picked up. He opened the front panel of his clothes to reveal that the child was still unconscious, breathing deeply. That fainting spell must not have been the only reason he passed out. The little tyke must really be in need of a warm place to sleep.

"He's a white fox, Kagome. That means he's supposed to live in cold climates. We can probably drop the little guy off anywhere, and he'll be just fine." Inuyasha said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, but he probably has a den around here somewhere, and parents that are worried sick about him," she returned. Before he had a chance to tell her what he guessed about the kit's parents, they heard a commotion outside, and ran out to investigate. They weren't the only ones who had heard the noise, as more of the neighbors had also stepped outside to witness whatever was going on. In front of one house was the father of the twin boys, hands held up defensively before him as a man held up one finger towards him.

"Are you out of your mind? You willingly brought a demon into our…" he paused as he caught sight of Inuyasha from the far corner of the village. The hanyou's expression shifted unconsciously, exposing his fangs defensively.

"He came with the Miko, and they saved both my sons. It would have taken me so much longer to dig them out without—"

"Don't you remember Hoshiro and those Kitsune, three years ago? You're lucky we don't kick you out like we did him. The Miko can stay, but that monster she brings with her has to go." He said, nodding to the Miko, as if that were a good solution, allowing only her to stay the night. Kagome's brow furrowed at the man's declaration.

"H-hold on. Inuyasha has to stay with me, he knows the way a lot better than I do. Where I go, he does," she said, defiantly. The man's face twisted, but it was another man across from him, having emerged fully from his house that spoke.

"I don't care if _it_ is your guard dog! Get that monster out of here!" Inuyasha bristled at that, a low growl finally reaching Kagome's ears. She placed a hand on the center of his chest, instinctively trying to calm him and make his growling cease. She was pissed, having someone not even dignify her husband as anything more than a thing. He was not and 'it'. He was a being with a hell of a lot more compassion and dignity than those who referred to him as such.

"Now wait just one second!" She said, pushing away from her husband, and what was now forming into a crowd, stalking towards them, continuing, "I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by while you talk about my husband like that when he has done nothing wrong!"

"Did she say her _husband_?!" Kagome heard a woman ask in surprise. Then came the shocked whispers from other members of the small village. Kagome felt very small suddenly; it seemed as if the eyes of every single person in the village, even the father of the twins were staring at her in shock and even…disgust? The whispers came and all Kagome could do was look on at the crowd, mutely. The man who had once forgiven Inuyasha's being for the good deed of saving his children now looked on in confusion, unable to figure out what to do in this situation. That she had married a demon was unthinkable, to them. Who would want anything to do with a demon, like that? A demon's strength is ferocious, and judging by the beads at his throat, one might assume she had merely employed him to rely on his strength. That seemed acceptable, in their minds, but to marry one? What sort of filthy woman would do such a thing?

"Leave this place, you foul woman," came a sudden shout as a rock came zipping past her side. The villagers didn't question who had thrown the first rock, as a handful of them also stooped to collect rocks. Kagome took a step back, knowing she couldn't dodge what was thrown at her so quickly. Suddenly, her vision was purely red and snowy white.

Inuyasha stood before her, the brunt of the assault pelting his body. He snatched one of the larger rocks, glaring darkly into the crowd. He clenched his fist, around the rock, opening it again to let a fine gravel fall from his palm. It was a warning to them as the assault stopped. He had the strength to really fuck up this village if he wanted, but he wasn't going to.

"C'mon, Kagome," he said over his shoulder, never taking his glaring eyes from the crowd. Kagome lifted her head from where she crouched behind him.

"Let's get out of here. Don't take me too long to figure where I ain't wanted." She looked up at him, glaring defiantly towards the crowd before her brows knit and she gave a similar glare over his shoulder.

* * *

"Don't think about it, just eat it," Inuyasha said, skewering some sort of small critter, already gutted and placing it over the fire. Kagome looked down to the meat, trying not to notice the decidedly squirrel-like shape of the animal, though failing. Inuyasha had found some hibernating squirrels, and that was going to be their only meal on such short notice.

"It was the only thing I could find out here, without going too far." He mumbled, turning the skewer to heat the other side.

"Is it okay to let the barrier down, now?" Kagome asked. They were backed up against a rock outcropping to keep the wind off, but Inuyasha told Kagome to keep herself and the kit inside of a barrier to keep out of the elements until he could get the fire high enough. He shoved some brush under the rock to serve as a slightly warmer place to sit, and loaded firewood up on one side, but they still had very little in the way of shelter. Inuyasha knew Kagome couldn't keep the barrier up all night. If it were him, he could hunker down against a tree, but with Kagome…she didn't even have that sleeping bag with her in snow halfway up to his knees.

"Stay close to the fire." He gave, nodding. Kagome shivered and clutched her shoulders the second the barrier was down, letting her feel the brunt of the elements. The kit seemed less affected, but as Inuyasha told her, white foxes were meant for this weather. The little boy had woken not long after they left the village and had cried, struggling to get away from Inuyasha, still believing the larger demon planned to eat him. Inuyasha gave him to Kagome, and the kit went quiet, surprised at being passed off to a human woman with a soft, soothing voice. He was probably too young to understand the significance of her robes, as he did not seem to fear her as he did Inuyasha. While Inuyasha was away and Kagome set the barrier up, she tried to talk to him, but he had not spoken a word yet.

"He might not know how to talk yet," Inuyasha commented, testing the meat.

"You said he's probably around three, so—"

"Some demons are slow learners when it comes to talking. Ask Myoga. I didn't start talking until I was two, and I'm half human."

Kagome looked at him curiously, before nodding in acceptance. She stretched her hands out to warm them against the fire. The little fox sat patiently in her lap, watching the food cook. He must have been raised extremely well, not to fuss except when he thought his life was in danger. He looked pretty smart, maybe he was just not willing to talk to strangers, or even just shy. She patted him on the head before rubbing her hands together again. She looked over to Inuyasha, who was testing the meat a second time.

"Inuyasha, how are you doing? Your feet are a little pink, doing all that walking barefooted."

Inuyasha shrugged, twisting his foot a little to look at it. A little pink, sure, but if he were a human his toes would be long gone to frostbite.

"Yeah…I'll be fine. This ain't the first time I been stuck out in the snow." He picked up the water container which had been placed near the fire. He shook it, hearing that the snow had melted into liquid. He handed it off to his wife, setting it back when she declined.

"So what are we gonna do about this little guy, Inuyasha? I can't get him to talk to me." Kagome said when Inuyasha handed her a skewer.

"If he won't talk, we find somewhere good to drop him off at," Inuyasha said giving her a shrug.

"We can't do that! He's just a baby! His parents are probably worried sick, already, we can't just leave him somewhere that could be far from his home!" Kagome gave him the most offended look, squeezing the small fox to her chest, as if to hide him from the hanyou who just wanted to dump him off somewhere. Inuyasha scoffed, scratching his chin, and thinking of how to tell her what he suspected.

"Kagome, the kid is…well, I didn't smell a bit of an adult's scent on him when I found him. Not his mother's, and not his father's." He turned down to his dinner, which was not even large enough for him to call a snack, and took a bite.

"So…" Kagome started. She looked down at the boy, showing him the meat, and tearing off a bite-sized portion for him. He sniffed at it, contemplating, before he took it and popped it into his mouth. Kagome tore off another piece for him.

"You're saying he might not have any parents?" Inuyasha didn't reply; he just took a swig of some water to wash down the last of his meal.

"Then why don't we—"

"Don't even finish that thought, Kagome." Inuyasha sent her a glare, and waited for it to register with her before he tilted his head up to look at the sky. Overcast. It would be too dark for Kagome to tell, but the world was always a touch brighter when there was snow on the ground, plenty of light for him to see by even with no fires and no villages nearby. Even with the moon and all the twinkling stars covered by the dingy grey clouds. Not that the moon would cast much light, tonight.

"Inuyasha…I remember what we…what I had said when I was drunk, last night. About having a baby, and I just think—"

"Kagome, after all that's just happened, you still want to give that thought, now?" Kagome was at first confused by his words, and then she lowered her head. He might be right. After Yuki-onna, the avalanche, finding the little one, being kicked out by the village…their priority was surviving until the sun warmed the air again. However, the matter of the little boy still needed to be discussed. That could wait until after he was asleep, however.

Inuyasha sat back against the rock overhang, pulling his robe off and getting Kagome to sit between his legs. She leaned back against him with the quiet little fox against her chest as he wrapped his outer layer tightly around them to serve as a blanket. The kit was so well behaved, but he looked so frightened whenever he looked at her with big blue eyes. It was a relief to her when she saw his eyes close and felt his breathing fall into a calm, even rhythm.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, looking through black bangs to see his eyes tilt towards her, "about this little guy, what are we going to do?"

"Like I said."

"Inuyasha we can't just—"

"When I said that he didn't smell like his parents, what I meant was that he didn't smell at all like his folks. If he had had any contact with a parent, slept in the same den as them or anything like that in the past few weeks, I would know about it. What that means is that he's been living alone for some time. He may look small, but he can probably take care of himself. He ain't skinny or dehydrated, so he's been doing fine."

"Kagome, I know what you're thinking, but we can't bring him back to the village."

"And why not," she whispered harshly.

"Just…look it's bad enough with me and Shippo there. They tolerate the two of us but I know they definitely don't like when Shippo brings his friends around, and having another—"

"Inuyasha, do you really think—"

"Kagome, get some sleep, okay. If you wanna take the kit back with us then…" he trailed off, "Sleep. This was only supposed to be a day and a half trip. We can't stay out another night like this. I don't need you draggin' your feet come mornin'." Kagome didn't miss the way he looked up at the dark sky.

"The first night is tomorrow?"

Her only response was a grunt. She turned her head into his chest, listening to the soft thumping of his heart. Had she..? Had she just gotten Inuyasha to agree to adopt a child?

* * *

The sound of Inuyasha throwing a log onto the fire from where they sat woke her every once in a while, but sleep was quick to take her seconds after she identified the sound, snuggling back into the hanyou's chest and shifting the sleeping fox closer to hers. The sound that got her attention came near dawn, when a low growl came rumbling from her husband's chest. She looked up to notice the wind was howling out past the outcropping and the snow was falling thickly. '_Yuki-onna_' Kagome guessed, from the way Inuyasha was squinting into the distance. She knew he must be able to see her through the white flurry, since Yuki-onna possessed no scent and no demonic aura. It wasn't long before Kagome saw her too.

"Kagome, put up a barrier, Inuyasha said, shifting out from behind her. The movement woke the sleeping kit, who looked around wearily, before he realized he still did not know where he was. Inuyasha stood out before his wife, growling.

"We ain't seen your kid, okay, so just leave us be!" he barked out when the snow woman got within what he presumed was earshot. She just came closer, her expression was not the impassive face of a wondering spirit as it had been the day before. She now looked concerned, worried about something.

"Please, help me find him, then. He wondered off, and it has been nearly two days."

Two…days…?

That didn't make sense to Inuyasha. He assumed that this Yuki-onna was the type who died looking for her child in the frozen wilderness, but…two days? It takes a lot longer than that for a Yuki-onna to manifest into one like…

"Mama!"

With that small whimper, the gears in Inuyasha's head clicked into place. The reason the kit had no scent of his parents was because—he whipped his head around to see Kagome struggling with the little kit trying to get away once again. She repeated again and again to the little boy that it wasn't safe, but he wasn't listening. Inuyasha's gaze turned down to the little boy, he was no longer scared, now he looked angry—determined to get away from Kagome.

"Let him go, Kagome," the hanyou said. She looked up to him in bewilderment, meeting his eyes whenever his flapping hair didn't fly into his face. Realization dawned onto Kagome, though her assumptions were not correct. Her eyes were open wide in the horror of what she thought Inuyasha was suggesting. He wasn't that kind of person!

"Inuyasha! We can't give her a child, who knows what she will do to—"

"He's her kid." Inuyasha's voice was even, firm, and direct.

"He's…a kitsune, she can't possibly be his—"

"Mama!" The boy growled, and this time it was much louder than a whimper. The young woman heard the word, but her instinct to protect the child—whatever motherly instinct she had—felt conflicted. She saw that the boy was looking out past Inuyasha, where the Yuki-onna stood. Suddenly the white-haired woman's eyes opened wide, and a relieved smile touched her lips. Kagome's brown eyes lowered to the little boy. Trembling, she released her hold on the boy.

He scampered out past Inuyasha, directly to the woman who stooped to catch the boy as he leapt into her arms. He gripped her in the best hug he could, and she held the tiny child tightly to her chest.

"Koji, Koji, Koji," she repeated, "I was so worried. You can't just run off like that."

"I sowwy mama," the fox said, rubbing his face into the white fabric of her chest.

"You're alright, just stay close to your den when mama's away, okay?" and with that the woman lifted her head to the couple standing by, Kagome clutching her husband's arm. She regarded the pair with a nod before turning around and setting off. The sun crested the horizon, nearly blinding Inuyasha from the glare off the snow with the storm breaking all at once. When the pair's eyes adjusted, the Yuki-onna was gone, along with her young son.

"Inuyasha, should we let them…"

"Yeah…c'mon. We gotta get out of here." Inuyasha stooped for Kagome to get on his back. She still stared off in the direction the ghost and demon went off. She still didn't feel right.

* * *

"But you said she was just a ghost," Kagome mumbled after some time.

"I said, well, more ghost than demon. She's capable of taking care of the kid, I suppose, but if I hit 'er with Tessaiga, it wouldn't do anything." Inuyasha said, looking straight ahead, happy to see more bare ground than patches of ice and snow.

"But he's a fox."

"Yeah, well, you were about ready to adopt the kid. What's to say a demon can't adopt another demon. Looks like she'd had him for some time, too, him callin' her his mother and all."

"A…a fox!" Something clicked with Kagome then.

"When we were back in the village, someone said that they had some foxes in the village, you don't suppose—"

"They were his real parents? Probably. If they was lookin' for shelter in a human village, they were probably injured. That's probably how she got ahold of the kid, after they died from whatever. Took pity on the kid."

"That's terrible…" turning down an injured mother and child, purely because they were demons.

"Yeah, though you and me both know that evil demons exist…an isolated village like that…" Inuyasha trailed off. No, it wasn't just isolated villages. It was pretty much all human settlements that were like that. That would be like that. Towards not only demons, but those associated with demons. They had kicked someone out for trying to help Koji's mother, and the way they treated Kagome the second they found out she was married to him—the strange white-haired beast with an eternal scowl on his face. He gripped Kagome's legs tighter to his waist as he ran.

It would always be like that.

"Inuyasha, I need to stretch my legs." Inuyasha set her down. They were a day late, but they could make it home before nightfall even if Kagome walked the rest of the way.

"Inuyasha, you think the two of them will be okay?" Kagome asked, wrapping her scarf a little tighter around her shoulders.

"Yeah, they'll be fine. She looked really worried about him, so she'll take good care of him."

Kagome sighed. She looked at Inuyasha with a smile. He caught her expression, and gave her a confused look in return.

"Then, you made a good judgement call." She watched Inuyasha's face scrunch slightly with the…complement..?

"I would have never thought to let him go. She was his adoptive mother, after all." She said, softly, reaching out for Inuyasha's hand. He looked back at her. Her hand was cold, but the feel of her small hand in hers was familiar and made him feel that comfortable warmth in his chest. His expression went soft, looking at her gentle smile.

"Inuyasha?"

"Hm?"

"You're going to be a great father." She smiled, starting to squeeze his hand, but losing her grip when his expression dropped. He pulled his hand away from hers, shaking his head.

"Kagome," he said firmly, opening his eyes to hold hers, making sure he had her full attention. With all that had happened those few days, those few weeks…he realized something. It wouldn't work out for him—for them—there was too much going against them. They couldn't—

"That's not going to happen. We _can't_ have kids. Not now; not ever."

* * *

...

* * *

Inuyasha changed his mind. He thinks he had a reality check.

Sorry to leave you guys with this, but I'm going to be pulling a hiatus after this. It might be another couple months before I update this, life got really real recently, school, and just life in general. Not bad, considering I published two long chapters back-to-back just two weeks ago. I still have one more part to complete this arc, but it's pretty sad towards the end. Chapter 30 should be fun, though.


	29. Scattered

**Scattered**

"Kagome, are we still talking about this?" Inuyasha frowned as he dried the last bowl and stacked it with the others. Kagome still wasn't meeting his eyes as she gripped her arms, crossed over her chest.

"I just don't understand why you—how you could just change your mind like that," Kagome said, her volume raising with every word, "The last time we talked about this—hell, yesterday—you seemed fine. You seemed to like the idea of us having kids, so how could you suddenly—"

"I HAD A REALITY CHECK!" Inuyasha shouted over her. The dog began to bark at the sudden escalated noise, but the fox sitting beside her clamped his hands around her muzzle. Inuyasha swallowed when her mouth shut, and she gave him a hurt expression, this time, making eye contact. He put his hands on his hips, this time it was him taking his dark eyes away from hers. He took a deep breath before continuing on.

"What more do you need to know, hm? Any kid we have is gonna…well fuck it, I ain't puttin' another kid in that kind of situation. Do you realize what a shit excuse for a dad that would make me? A man, a demon, whatever. It ain't gonna happen." Inuyasha pointed to Kagome.

"Wait, now. The first time we ever talked about this crap, you even said you were fine with us just being the two, why'd you change your mind?"

"Because you said you _wanted_ to be a father, and I believed you! I've gone eight—nine months believing you wanted what I wanted and you never said otherwise, so what the hell was I supposed to think?" her voice cracked, and she swallowed thickly. Inuyasha pinched his eyes shut. He couldn't handle tears, not right now. He cared about this woman so much, and when she cried—when he made her cry—dammit. It tugged on his heartstrings even harder when his emotions were right out on the surface on these moonless nights.

"You can't just change the—"

"I DIDN'T CHA—"

"DON'T yell at Kagome!"

The fox stood defensively in front of Kagome, glaring up at the temporarily human man. Inuyasha's glare settled on the boy and he took a deep breath through his nose.

"Shippo, stay out of this," Inuyasha ordered. The boy's lip curled defiantly.

"Not if you're going to yell." Shippo shook his head. Inuyasha glanced back up to Kagome, whose attention was directed down to Shippo, her expression showing concern for the little demon. Inuyasha closed his eyes and rocked back on his heels.

"That wasn't yell—"

"Shippo, please." Kagome cut her husband off. She crouched a little further down to whisper to the boy.

"We didn't mean to argue right in front of you. I'm sorry." Shippo's expression scrunched, and he turned up to Kagome.

"You're not the one that should apologize. He's the one that got all pissy and—"

"Pissy. Right. Shippo, you had better shut your face, because…" Inuyasha ran his hands through his hair.

"Fuck it. I'm out of here." Inuyasha stomped off for the door, sliding it open as feet trotted up behind him. He tried to shut the door behind him, but Kagome held it open.

"Inuyasha, wait, please," she plead as he let go of the door and started walking.

"I'll be back, I just need some air," he said to the darkness in front of him.

"Inuyasha please, come back inside! It's freezing out. I didn't mean for this to turn into—Inuyasha wait!" She could barely see her husband's form shrinking away from her in the starlight. She was so stupid, she had dashed out barefoot onto the icy ground. She would never catch him at this rate. He was too used to walking around barefoot. Why was it like this so often?

"Inuyasha, Osuwari," she called. She heard the familiar thud and she sighed, darting in the direction the dark shape had fallen. She came up beside her husband with an apology on her lips, waiting for him to rise so that she would have his attention, but…seconds ticked by, and he never moved a muscle.

"Inuyasha?"

The sound of his weak groan threw her into panic. She realized that she had made a terrible mistake. She grabbed him under the arms and rolled him onto his side. She could barely make out his face for the darkness and the streams of black covering his nose and mouth. The ground was frozen solid. He was weak as a human. She was so stupid.

He opened his eyes wide as she lifted him into a seated position. He could barely make out what she was saying though the scratchy sound of her voice. A thousand apologies spewed from her as they made their way into the light of the house. He watched her scramble around for a clean rag and water. He said nothing as he sat there, half wondering what had happened, half knowing that he was pissed off. He looked over at Shippo and the dog, Shippo giving him a frightened look before averting his gaze away from the dark-eyed man, dripping with fresh blood.

He winced when his wife dabbed at the cut over his forehead, he didn't even see her come up next to him. His eyes shot to the face of his wife as she wrung the now red cloth and rewet it. He couldn't even feel the entire left side of his face at that point, just the sharpness in his nose and mouth.

"Oh god," she whispered as he flinched away when she touched the cloth to the bridge of his nose. His nose was unmistakably broken. The cuts she had been cleaning over his brow and split lip were minor in comparison to how his nose looked. His bones were always self setting, but the pain he mist be in right now…

She swallowed thickly when she noticed Inuyasha's expression. His brow and cheek were beginning to swell, but his expression was so angry. And rightfully so. She had fucked up royally, and he looked to be doing everything in his power to recognize this as unintentional. She had no idea this would happen. She had done this to her husband. Her eyes began to mist up, but she choked back her tears, gently holding his face still while she dabbed the blood away.

"Shippo, throw this out, and refill it for me," she said to the little fox. Shippo said nothing as he did as he was told. He wasn't stupid enough to intervene in the tense aura between the couple. Kagome noticed the darkening stains on Inuyasha's knees and gently grasped Inuyasha's wrists to turn over his hands. Inuyasha followed her gaze, and Kagome noted that his good eye widened at the sight of his bloody palms. He must not have felt them. Kagome noted how deeply a few stones and debris were embedded. She instructed Shippo to get and additional bowl and her tweezers, so that she could begin to scrub away anything his skin might try to heal over come morning.

She plucked away at the rocks and twigs that were stuck in his right hand, causing more blood to ooze out. She dropped each foreign body into the second, waterless bowl. She cleaned the hand of blood, the skin now looking something akin to hamburger meat and wrapped it in the bandages Shippo had foresight to set beside her. As she moved onto the second hand, which wasn't as bad off, she went to drop a pebble into the bowl when a bandaged hand reached down and grabbed it away from her. Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha moving his tongue under his lips. He spit something into the bowl and set it back down with a gnarled look of disgust on his beat-up face.

Kagome hadn't started crying yet, but she lost it when she saw the two bloodied human teeth setting in the bottom of the bowl.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha!" She cried.

"I n-n-never th-thought about i-it. I just w-went on instinct and," she sobbed, "it's only s-s-supposed t-t-to work on dem-m-mons so I d-don't even know wh-why it—"paused to wipe her tears.

"I'm not totally human." Inuyasha's voice was gruff, but he couldn't stand to see her cry right in front of him like this. He was angry because he was hurt, but…it wasn't like she intentionally beat him up or something. He could handle the command in his regular body, but tonight—

"Wh-what? No, I-I d-d-don't feel a bit of Youki from you and y-y-your hair and your strength—"

"Yeah, I look and feel it for the most part, but there's somethin' inside hanyou to get our powers goin' back in the mornin'. It's just real deep down that we can't get to." Inuyasha looked down at his bandaged hand. His claws were gone, but there was something he noticed, looking in a mirror when he was very young.

"Have you ever seen my eyes on the first night?"

Kagome sobbed out a quiet '_whuh?_' as she brought her face away from her hands. Her eyes were so blurry she could barely tell Inuyasha _had_ eyes.

"The little black spots ain't round. That's how you know I ain't a normal human." That's all he could figure. The beads _weren't_ supposed to work on humans. They must be able to pick up on that deeply embedded kernel of Youki, and react just the same as when his form was it's usual strength, despite how frail his body became.

"I don't underst—"

"Well, it don't matter if you do or don't. Nothin' to do now." He held up his left hand to his wife.

"Stop crying, idiot. I ain't mad just hurry up and patch me up." He lied about being mad, but he would rather forget about this whole incident sooner rather than later. Kagome nodded, though she still wanted to cry. She spent a minute wiping her eyes and breathing, working on being able to see the debris to pick out of her husband's hand before she went to work.

"The spell. It's always that forceful, isn't it?" Kagome asked as she began wrapping Inuyasha's left hand.

"I can handle it," he muttered.

"That's not what I asked…Though I suppose it answers my question too," Kagome shook her head as she continued with, "if it hurts when I do it, you would tell me, wouldn't you?" Kagome paused as she tucked the final wrap of bandage around Inuyasha's hand. There was a good three seconds of absolute silence, no animal calls, no insects, not a breath between the pair, before Inuyasha answered.

"I'd tell ya. You've heard me complain about it before." Inuyasha tried to shrug, but Kagome's eyes slammed shut.

"But I still use—"

"I hate it when you do it like a hundred times in a row, otherwise it feels like nothin'."

* * *

"Inuyasha. Hey, come on." Shippo patted Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha jolted awake. Kagome had told Shippo to keep Inuyasha awake for a few hours in case she had fallen asleep. She told him that if Inuyasha had a concussion, it would be bad to let him sleep for a while. Shippo didn't know how long a while she meant, but Inuyasha seemed very sleepy, even though he could usually stay up on these nights. Morning would arrive soon, but Shippo wanted to make sure Inuyasha wouldn't die in his sleep. He didn't really understand what a concussion was, but he was trying to be safe and follow Kagome's vague instructions until the morning, when any damaged tissue would heal at once.

"I'm up," Inuyasha said with a sigh. He really had been feeling sleepy that night, his head was aching terribly too. Kagome was probably onto something with that talk of brain injury. Inuyasha blinked his eyes open and stood up to fight sleep. He scanned the room to find his wife curled up on the hard floor, asleep. She could have at least slept on the bed, but she seemed to have been trying to make sure he stayed awake. He walked over to her sleeping form, thanking the fox for covering her and encouraging the dog to curl up beside her. The ground outside was frozen enough to fuck up his face, and it wasn't a whole lot warmer in the house. He threw another log onto the fire, looking back at his wife as she nearly stirred from the crackling sound. His heart sank now that he was finally close enough to see the light catching the tearstains down her cheeks.

"Damn," he muttered, coming back to sit against the wall.

"When did she start crying again?" Inuyasha asked of the fox. He watched the kit's shoulders fall.

"The second she laid down. I could smell it from here."

Inuyasha nodded, staring into the fire as red lines climbed the grains in the wood. Shippo approached Inuyasha once again, hands folded before him.

"Listen Inuyasha. I'm sorry. I shouldn't've gotten involved."

Inuyasha scoffed.

"Damn right you shouldn't have…" Inuyasha watched Shippo frown at him before he came to sit beside Inuyasha.

"I just…I don't get why you're so mad about letting Kagome have a baby. She seems to really—"

"Kid, you're entering dangerous territory. Thought you said you would stay out of it…" Inuyasha sighed. He brushed his hair off his forehead with his hand, forgetting how sore both forehead and palm were.

"It wouldn't be _lettin'_ Kagome _have_ a baby, anyway. I would still have to father the kid."

"Kagome would make a good mom even if you were the worst dad on the planet," Shippo said, his tone bitter.

"It's something you do when you're married, have kids, isn't it?" Shippo continued. "So why did you even marry her if you didn't want to have kids with her. Seems kinda stupid to me."

Inuyasha growled.

"I married her because I wanted to live together with her, you don't have to have kids just because you're…Dammit Shippo," Inuyasha rocked forward to lean his arms on his knees and look at the kid glaring up at him, continuing on, "I know Kagome would make a good mom. I know she _deserves_ to have a family like she wants but…you're too young to understand this, why the hell am I…" Inuyasha took a deep breath.

"You'll be old enough in a few years so just take my advice, okay? I know you've had lots of little girlfriends over the years, but when you're older, don't ever get a human girl pregnant, you hear me? Because this," he patted his chest, "is what you'll get. They'll get shit on and screwed over by the entire fucking world and the reason I don't want kids is because _I_ know what that's like." Inuyasha's head was beginning to throb as he spoke.

"Then I'll protect them from all that," Shippo said after a second of thought.

Inuyasha shot a dubious look in the kit's direction.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

The eleven-year-old frowned, leaning forward to hold his ankles.

"I don't really know. But I'll definitely stick around for them. I'll be there if they need advice, or beat up anyone that bullies them…" the boy trailed off.

"…I know that your dad died before you can remember, but if he was around, I think he would have protected you too. My dad was always saying—"

"Your dad died too, Shippo. What then?"

Shippo glared defiantly up at Inuyasha. Then his glare faded. Inuyasha was getting defensive because the boy brought up a sore subject, and turning it around on Shippo was just the next course of action.

"I'm going to be stronger than my dad. He didn't have the training I'm getting, so by the time I have kids, whether their mom is human or demon, I definitely won't die." Shippo smirked.

"I'm going to become the strongest, wisest fox demon that ever lived, just you wait. I'm going to have kids that can look up to me, and anyone that messes with them will regret it. I just know it."

Inuyasha scoffed. That somehow brought a smile to his lips.

"Sure you are, brat." Inuyasha dropped his hand overtop the kit's head. He stared back out into the fire. He was silently glad that they got off the subject of his own heirs as he felt the effects of the sun beginning to crest the horizon. Across the way, he saw movement as his eyesight started to sharpen. Kagome was beginning to stir with the sudden influx of youki from Inuyasha's body. Inuyasha felt the tingle of some of his power taking focus on the wounds across his face and hands, starting to heal them. Kagome sat up rubbing her eyes and brushing the dried tears from her cheeks.

"Morning," Inuyasha called.

Kagome merely nodded and silently walked over to Inuyasha to examine his face.

"Don't worry about that, nose ain't gonna be crooked by lunchtime."

Kagome sighed.

* * *

"Shippo, go on ahead, we'll catch up," Kagome said, rubbing Aki's belly. Shippo gave a curious look to _Inuyasha_ before the boy called Aki over and left through the door. Inuyasha rolled his eyes as Kagome approached him. He thought she was just going to be checking on his healing process before he got a good look at her face. Her brows were knit in a quiet sort of anger. What was she angry for?

Inuyasha unconsciously took a step back, finding himself up against a wall. Kagome was in front of him instantly. Inuyasha lifted himself to his full height, away from her hands as she cupped his cheeks. Her eyes scanned his face as she gently tilted it from side to side.

"Kagome what—I"

She dropped her hands, grasping his wrists and looking over his bandaged palms. She released his hands and looked back up to him, brown catching gold. She looked to be thinking about something. Her gaze dropped once more, her hands resting on his shoulders. Inuyasha was bewildered about what the hell she was doing, but he stayed quiet as he observed his wife's strange behavior. Her hands slid down from his shoulders to his collarbone, where the folds of his clothing met the kotodama necklace.

She wrapped her hands around the beads. Inuyasha felt his hairs rising on end with a sort of static electricity feeling at his chest. Kagome tightened her hold on the beads…and tugged.

Dozens of sharp sounds brought Inuyasha's ears back against his head as the beads scattered to the floor around him. Indigo and ivory tumbled in every which way before their echoes faded into silence. Inuyasha just stood, frozen, staring at his wife. What the hell?

"There," Kagome said, taking a step back from her husband. Her decision was much more final that if she had simply removed the necklace whole from his throat. Never again would she say the command in anger or negligence. She gave herself a satisfied nod. She would sweep the beads out the door when she got home, but for now, she needed to get into the village.

"Let's go," she said, turning to walk to the door. Inuyasha took slow steps to follow. He got to the door then turned back to look into the house. His eyes scanned the floor, staring…he didn't know how to feel about this. He closed the door behind himself, touching his fingertips to his chest as he walked behind his wife. Sure, they were just beads. They had caused him a lot of annoyance in their time around his neck but…did Kagome know how that familiar weight felt around his neck? She couldn't have possibly known the hours he spent staring from the bottom of that well, rolling those beads between his fingers, his thickest tie to the brave, gentle, beautiful girl just on the other side of the well…

This was stupid. The beads were thrown about his neck by Kaede, Kagome just controlled the spell. They weren't even hers, so why had he spent so much time…he had Kagome with him now, so why should he hold onto something like that. Something that…

* * *

It was after dark again when Kagome climbed onto Inuyasha's back. She was glad to see that his nose had healed and his two teeth had regrown over the course of the day, but she didn't inspect her husband too closely. She hadn't worked late, technically, but she wondered when the sun was going to start setting later. Winter sure seemed to last a long time in this world. A world without hot baths, hot cocoa, fried chicken…well, it was her decision to make.

She wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. She didn't expect her arms to brush up against something hard and cold. Hard…and cold..?

"What? Did…did you restring the beads?" she heard her husband huff.

"Why?" She asked, genuinely confused. He hated that necklace, didn't he? She had abused her power so awfully over the years, and only realized it when she had seriously injured her beloved husband. Did he seriously take the time to collect all the beads from the floor and restring them?

"Why not? Feels weird not wearing them when I spend something like five years straight having 'em on." His response was very blasé and Kagome hugged her husband tighter.

"I'm sorry for ever using that stupid spell on you, Inuyasha, but I don't really feel attached to—"

"Eh? Don't worry about it. I just like having 'em on. Besides, I can take them off whenever now, so it's not like you run the risk of ever using the word without meaning to."

Kagome frowned. Was that really the case?

* * *

...

* * *

Off of Hiatus to give you guys a short chapter. It's three AM again. Back on schedule. Unedited, will return to edit later.


	30. Lets Go With That

**Lets Go With That**

Kagome walked behind her two boys as they all made their way into the village. The both of them seemed quieter than normal all that morning, almost melancholy, and it was beginning to eat at her. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out in front of Inuyasha, Shippo on his shoulder, and set her hands on her hips.

"What's wrong with you two? Never had a morning go by without hearing either of your voices."

The giant sigh from Shippo made Inuyasha's ear flick towards the sound.

"I thought we were going to get more snow this year, but it's already spring. I didn't even get to make a snow burrow," the boy said, crossing his arms. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, tipping his head away from the fox to stare out into the woods.

"Oh," Kagome said. Well, it wasn't exactly spring, by her guestimation it was still early February but given the temperature and the way the plum trees were budding…well, the true winter was right around done for the year. There's always next year for snow, Kagome told him. For the time being, there were flowers to start blooming, baby animals to be born, warm sunshine to bask in, soon enough. Shippo just frowned. He would have to return to the mountain for an exam as soon as the plum buds popped open…but at least he could see more of the friends he had made back there.

"And you, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, hands held behind her back. Inuyasha's ears flicked towards her then out towards the woods again.

"I'm not being quiet, I'm just listening. There's a bunch of mongrels out in the woods somewhere." Kagome sighed, but nodded and let the boys continue down the path. Aki was grounded for the time being, only being let out on a leash a few times a day. She wasn't very good on the leash, they honestly should have started that training much earlier on, but it was what they had to do to keep her from running off. They would rather not have to deal with puppies any time soon. Inuyasha had woken her up late last night when he went out to break up a dogfight that was keeping him up. He had warned her this would happen if they kept the dog.

As they entered into the village center, Shippo left off into one of the fields to play, despite the chill left in the February air. Kagome waved, but felt a sharp prick at her neck, unconsciously smacking an insect away. She was surprised by the squeak she heard, then opening her hand to see what sort of bug had bitten her.

"Oh! Myoga!"

Inuyasha turned back to look into his wife's palm, where the old flea was regaining is composure.

"Long time, no see, Kagome-sama." Kagome never really liked the honorific with her title when used because she was a Miko, but Myoga had started using it only after discovering the couple's status as husband and wife. She didn't mind being recognized as Inuyasha's wife, one bit.

"Well it's good to see you too. Have you come to visit, or did you just pop in to say hi?" Kagome smiled down at the tiny demon, who crossed his arms and nodded to her.

"I'll be visiting for a while, if you don't mind my company." Kagome heard Inuyasha's scoff, but didn't react.

"How is Totosai?"

"Oh, well. He's doing well. Decided it was time for another move. I wouldn't be much help getting packed up, so visiting with Inuyasha-sama and yourself on this occasion—"

"So the bag a' bones pissed off another customer, eh?" Inuyasha interrupted. Kagome tried to send him an annoyed look, but the hanyou continued on.

"Figured it'd been a while since the geezer let his mouth fly off ahead of him. That's the only time he ever heads off on the run."

"Inuyasha, that's not nice," '_and you're really one to talk,'_ she nearly finished. Inuyasha was the king of letting his mouth work ahead of his brain. Kagome heard Myoga clear his throat and continue on.

"The cold weather is harsh on elders, but I'll be off after I've had a chance to rest from the travels," Myoga gave. With that, the flea jumped up and disappeared under Inuyasha's hair, as per usual.

* * *

The morning fog was burned off by noon, and so Kagome left from Kaede's house to go up to the shrine. When she returned, she found a mother at the base of the steps, asking Kagome to watch her son while she helped her husband and older daughter turned over the soil. It was the second day that Kagome had agreed to watch the littlest one. She let Kaede know she was running errands and had the little boy toddling about beside her. Haru was doing well, finally coming around to tell her new husband of her pregnancy now that it was becoming obvious. Kenta seemed excited, and Kagome wore a smile, despite what she knew of the pregnancy. It didn't really matter, anyway. The brothers had looked alike, so even if the child looked like their father, no one would know anything was off.

She passed another man in the road, a widower who was often passing his sons off to babysitters when he was stressed out, and so Kagome was watching two more children. Then came another, and soon Kagome was taking quite the gaggle tagging along around her. With spring on its way, their parents were starting to become busy again, and Kagome felt no qualms about watching the children who were too big to be strapped to their mother's back. Kagome brought the children out into the field to play in an open area where she could keep an eye on all of them. They played with a ball one of them had brought along or played jump rope with one Kagome borrowed from Rin, while shy boy sat beside Kagome to help her look for the earliest growing herbs in the field.

The little boy had once expressed his interest in becoming a doctor—a healer, and Kagome thoroughly indulged his curiosity in her notebook as she read out the names and uses for the plants she scribbled in there. The boy wasn't yet old enough to read any of the simpler kanji, but Kagome was surprised he knew how to read at all. Miroku was doing a fine job setting up makeshift lesson plans for the village children. She wondered if maybe she should help out some, trying to get some semblance of a school going.

* * *

Long silvery strands had gotten tangled with twigs and bark, Inuyasha noted as he propped himself against the trunk of a tree, halfway to the top. He just dropped the dog back off at the house, so she wouldn't piss in the house again. He sighed. There had been a big scrappy-looking Akita right outside the house when he had gone to take Aki out. Mean dogs, Akitas, especially when they had a one-track mind. He certainly hoped Kagome wouldn't run into one without him around. He really didn't care for dogs, despite the jokes everyone liked to poke at him. Cats were much more tolerable…he liked Aki, but he would have preferred a kitten have followed Kagome home. A male one, so they wouldn't have to worry about it yowling nonstop every few months.

He began pulling bits of bark out as he casually took in the scene across the field. Those kids, he knew, were on their best behavior around her, so of course they weren't driving her up a wall. That's the only reason she looked so at ease, the hanyou told himself. Then again, they were well behaved because they _liked_ her. They were drawn to her, and they liked being around her, even when their parents hadn't shoved them off on her. They liked her because she was so good with them.

Inuyasha sighed, leaning his temple against the trunk, watching the scene from an angle. She was good with kids. She would make a fine mother—a damn fine mother—but Inuyasha wanted so badly to deny that. Deny it for his own, selfish sake. No, not selfish, but he couldn't—wouldn't—give her the family that she wanted. She deserved it. If she wanted it, god, how she deserved it.

He couldn't give her a lot, but when it came down to it, he could give her children—it was something he _could_ do, easily. He could provide for those kids too, however many she wanted, if it was two or ten (_although ten might very well drive him to drink_) even if it meant he would be hunting more—hunting larger game—trading the hides for stuff they would need. He didn't know what kind of father he would be, but he could be a good provider if—

What the hell was he doing, indulging in those sorts of thoughts? It wasn't going to happen. Yet, as he saw Kagome there, surrounded by all those kids…

Ah, one of them got tripped up by the jump rope. Kagome lifted her head as soon as Inuyasha's ears picked up on the sound of crying, Kagome no doubt having heard it too. She got up and hurried over to the boy, asking if they were alright. The child nodded and picked themselves up, wiping the tears from their eyes. Kagome held the little boy by the shoulders, probably checking to make sure they weren't cut up, and said something that Inuyasha couldn't hear. Whatever it was, it made the child laugh and smile back at Kagome. She ruffled their white hair and—

White?

Inuyasha shook his head to clear his head, looking back up at Kagome, stepping away from the _brunet_ child. Brown hair, not white. Inuyasha groaned, letting his head thunk back as he leaned into the tree.

"Kagome-sama is a natural with children, wouldn't you say?" Asked a tiny voice from Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Butt out, old man," Inuyasha said, gruffly. His eyes popped open and he growled.

"Exactly how long have you been hanging around?!"

"I have been…well, that is…Most of the day."

"Then it's time to leave me alone, don't you think? Call it my present, eh?" Inuyasha said, picking the old flea off of his beads. Inuyasha looked up as a light drizzle started to come down on top of the village. Nothing severe, but he watched Kagome hurry the children back towards the village center, where many of them lived. It was the afternoon anyways, their parents should be picking them up soon enough.

Inuyasha shook off a few drops that had beaded on his ears and closed his eyes.

* * *

Kagome was a little damp, but the afternoon sun was already breaking the layer of clouds, and it didn't look like the sprinkles would continue in the night. She said her hellos to Sango as she was just getting her laundry folded. Little Ichiro was standing now, with the help of one hand clutched in his mother's sleeve. He didn't quite know how to walk yet, but he had the standing thing pretty much figured out. Kagome smiled when he caught sight of her and gave her that big four-toothed grin.

"Hi baby," Kagome greet him as well, turning up to his mother.

"Miroku's got the girls?"

"Yup," Sango said shortly.

"They decided they weren't doing the "nap" thing today, so Miroku took them for a long walk. I'm very much hoping they'll sleep hard tonight." Sango ended with a chuckle, so Kagome knew her annoyance wasn't too serious.

"Oh, it was raining a little just now, I hope they were indoors."

"Well, Miroku has enough sense to stay out of the rain, I'm not too worried. Snow on the other hand…" Sango touched her knuckle to her lip, seeming to recall a memory before she shook it off.

"Well, we're all done with snow, I think. Spring seems early this year, or is that normal?" Kagome asked, crouching down to pick up Ichiro as he crawled his way to her. She set him by his mother and went about removing her sandals.

"Well, it's not really that early for spring. It does seem that way, I suppose. It was snowing this time last year." Sango chuckled.

"Inuyasha did mention it was snowing the day he was born, which would have been right around now, and for a month afterwards, even. That would have been a very long winter, so I would much rather have an early spring," Sango laughed, "I prefer not feeling like my toes are going to fall off, you know?"

"Wait…snow? When he was bor…" Kagome's brows scrunched together. When he was born? He was born…Kagome stopped what she was going, one sandal still clutched in her hand and pondered her friend's words. Not about the mild winter but about her husband. She had never thought about it before, that Inuyasha was born, obviously, but that he had a birthday was something that had never crossed her mind. Sure, people back here didn't go by the Gregorian calendar, but the twins were obviously born early winter, Sango and Miroku having named them after the first snowfall, but Inuyasha? Sango had once told her she was born in the autumn, while Miroku and Kohaku's birthdays were closer to her own.

"Kagome, are you alright?"

The young Miko's eyes shot up to her friend's.

"When is Inuyasha's birthday?"

Sango blinked, throwing up a puzzled look.

"His birthday—the anniversary of his birth—when he turns another hear older? Like, how the twins just turned—"

"I know what it means, Kagome. I just didn't think…" She touched her fingertips to her lips. "Well, it's right about now. This time of year."

"I've got to go, then. Ooh, why didn't he tell me it was his birthday?!" Kagome stopped, mid-step out the door and turned back to her friend, asking how Inuyasha had come to tell _her_ his birthday, and not his own wife.

"Well, I don't think it would have ever come up if Myoga hadn't mentioned it."

"Myoga, huh? Geez, nobody tells me anything…I'm sorry Sango, I didn't mean to leave the second I got here like this."

"Uh, that's fine..? Oh wait," Sango called. Kagome spun around and opened the door further.

"Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow night? I've got dibs on the next eggs Ataru's chickens lay, and we could do something with those."

Kagome laughed at her friend's smiling face. She would love to come over for dinner.

* * *

He was always easy to find when she went looking. Always up in the tops of one of several trees with good views of the forest and village below them.

"Inuyasha," she called up into the trees when she felt she was close enough. In a moment, he was soundlessly standing before her, taking in the strange expression on her face. Was she mad? Should he head for the hills or..?

"Is it really your birthday?"

The question made his expression shift from one of curiosity to appall and confusion.

"Who told—"

"Then it is?! Inuyasha, why didn't you tell me!" Kagome balled her fists to her chest, pursing her lips. Inuyasha shook his head, setting his hands on his hips.

"Cuz it ain't a big deal. I'd've forgot if I didn't get reminded."

"Not a…It's your birthday! I've never celebrated your birthday before. Oh, if I'd known earlier, I could have planned for it…Okay, okay. Better late than never, what do you want for your present?" Kagome clapped her hands together. She wasn't even sure of the exact date of his birthday, so if she got a present to him in the next few days, it should still count for something. She should know by now what sort of things Inuyasha liked, but her mind was honestly blanking out.

"I'm not a little kid, Kagome. I'm a little old for presents, doncha think?" Inuyasha scratched the back of his head, continuing, "Besides that, there's nothin' I would want. Nothin' I can think of."

"I know you're not a kid, but like I said, I never celebrated one with you. I'd like to do something, at least once…um…If you can't think of a present, then…" The pretty little Miko's cheeks became a little heated as a thought came to mind.

"I could um…" she swallowed thickly. She covered her mouth and looked away from her husband.

"I could…do that thing you like…with my mouth." She took a quick glance over to her husband, his eyes wide and face beet red up to his ears. She stood a little straighter.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She watched his mouth open and close, trying to form words before he finally spoke.

"Y-you do that all the time—it wouldn't really be special for you to—"

"Do you want me to or not?!" She snipped at him.

"I—yeah, yeah, geez—" he replied with a hurried nod. He hated how quickly he had...then again, she always became very compliant when he offered her the same. Of course, he had never offered in _words_, like she had just done.

Kagome's face took on a little heat.

"I haven't in a while because Shippo's always…Where's Myoga? Oh gosh! He isn't hiding on you somewhere, is he?" She would be mortified if the old demon heard the sorts of things she does to her husband. If anyone heard her say it aloud, anyways!

"Don't…uh, I told him to get lost a while ago so he's probably in Shippo's tail or somethin'."

Kagome let out a sigh of relief. She nodded and spun around, facing towards the village.

"H-hey! Where are you going?"

"We're low on flour, I want to see if I can trade for some. I'll make you something good for dinner," she replied, smiling at her husband, his face still flushed.

"Ah, come on, you don't gotta—"

"I know. You're not a little kid, but it's good to eat something yummy for special occasions…" She stopped her forward momentum, slowly touching her fingers to her lips as a thought swept through her mind. She never _had_ asked him outright how…

"Inuyasha? How old are you? How old are you going to be this year, I mean?"

Inuyasha's face returned to it's normal color as his expression blanked. A moment of quiet passed between the pair before the hanyou gave his answer.

"I don't know, really."

Kagome tilted her head to the side, confused.

"You don't? Why not?"

Inuyasha returned her head tilt. He just…he had gone through puberty, so he was definitely older than, say, thirteen, but besides that, the years seemed to just muddle together. He felt like he had been wondering from forest to forest for decades before he was sealed to the tree and then…did those fifty years count?

"I just…it wasn't something I thought about."

Kagome bit her lip. Did he really not know? The only other person she knew who could hardly remember their age was her grandfather, who had to do the math between the year he was born until the date he was asked to get a straight answer. Could…he was a hanyou, after all…could he be that old? Old enough to forget how old he was? No, that couldn't be it. He had only just started to grow those few annoying chin hairs, so he had to be a lot younger than that…right?

"Do you have a good guess, or a range on how old you are?" Kagome asked, chewing her lip. She didn't know how demons aged, but Inuyasha was…he _looked_ to be aging at the same rate as her, at least in the past four years.

"Uh…Not really. It felt like forever that I was…I dunno, I could be thirty or ninety or, even like seventeen." Inuyasha scratched through his white hair. He really wasn't sure if he should include the years he was bound to the tree. Was he technically dead during those years? They shouldn't count, but at the same time, with as much as the world had changed, it still felt like they should be included…but maybe not?

"Well, okay, how old are you? You turn another year in the spring so, how old will you be then?" Inuyasha's eyes fixated onto his wife's as she threw him a confused look. She didn't seem to know what to think of his answer and the following question.

"I'm…I'll be twenty."

"Okay," Inuyasha nodded, "Then lets go with that. I'm twenty. It makes it easier to remember if we're the same age."

"But if you're not really twenty…"

"How old do I look, then?" Inuyasha asked, his tone light, but with a serious edge to let his wife know that whatever they said here was what he was going to go by. No additional questions asked.

Kagome looked him up and down. He was a little taller than when she was fifteen, with broader shoulders, though still lean. A little bit of fuzz had tried growing on his face in recent months and…well, he certainly looked about twenty.

"The same age as me," she said, shaking her head slightly.

"Alright then," Inuyasha said. That was the final word of it. He may be twenty in actuality, or older or younger, but twenty was what they were going with. Next year he would be twenty-one, and Kagome would be twenty-one a little while after, so that settles that.

While she was still processing the decision, Inuyasha leaned down to peck her on the lips. Kagome blinked up at him.

"What was that for?" Kagome asked, a bit of warmth coming to her cheeks. Inuyasha shrugged, flashing her a smile.

"I felt like it."

_'Riiiight,_' Kagome thought with a wry grin. He just wanted to end the discussion, she was sure. There were worse ways to do it, she supposed.

Now to plan a nice birthday meal for her husband.

* * *

...

* * *

Sorry for the delay. My computer went on the fritz, I lost the first draft of this chapter as well as my motivation to finish it after the loss. It's not what some of you were expecting, but here it is. I should hope "the garbage will do" (I still need to see the new Star Wars movie).

I intentionally left Inuyasha's age ambiguous, I have a plan to address this again in the future. I would like to think he's _actually_ 20, but the profiles book suggests he just kinda...looks 15 in the manga...but then he looks older later on so...again, at a later date.

Typos exist. Grammar issues exist. I'll fix those later.


	31. Three Little Words

**Three Little Words**

Kagome was awake and cooking breakfast by the time the dog's whimpering was beginning to get annoying. She shooed the little thing away, pushing her with her foot, telling her the food would be done soon. As if she understood Kagome, Aki stamped her paws impatiently, making the cutest little bow-wow-wow in her annoyance of being shoved away. Of course, the display was adorable, and Kagome reached down to ruffle the fur on top of Aki's head, something she knew also annoyed the little orange shiba.

Something felt very uncomfortable when she did that, and Kagome stood back immediately, trying to figure out what was going on. She shook her head, taking the food off the heat as she realized what it must have been.

"Oh no," she said with a groan, sitting back on the raised floor. She untied her hakama and pulled her bottoms off to find out the situation was exactly as she suspected; her stitches didn't hold. She knew it was bound to happen, after a year of cycling through the same three pairs of panties, patching them up, scrubbing them, rinse and repeat. The elastic had completely come out of one pair, and she left those in the bottom of a drawer. This pair had held up a little better, but she had to patch the bottom up time after time. They had finally ripped out again, only now it was in a different spot.

As much as going commando was probably common for women in this era, the thought of all that loose fabric rubbing against her bare backside was not something she looked forward to. Sure, they had those slips, which she was sure were fine under a yukata, but she wore hakama most of the time. She looked out the window, noting that the sun had already come up. She looked down to the scraps of fabric which had once been polka-dotted panties, and made a decision. These were intact enough to use as a sort of pattern for a new pair, and honestly she should have done this a long time ago.

She had a cotton fabric leftover from the last time she had patched Inuyasha's kosode (she should really just get around to making him a new one, it was so full of holes) that she supposed would work. She fed the dog and got a bowl for herself before setting to work cutting the remnants of her underwear to lay flat so that she could make a pattern. As she began tracing onto the fabric with a blackened stick from the fire, she noted the sun was already up. It wasn't the first time she had been late to Kaede's. When Inuyasha first started leaving to spar with Sango, she had usually showed up just before noon, and Kaede never said much about it.

* * *

Kagome leaned back and heard her back pop with annoying clarity. She had a bad habit of picking up every child who asked it of her, and she may have overdone it a bit today. She saw two of the children off for their turn to help their grandparents in the field. As she came upon the children's grandparents, she thought they might be arguing so she became a little uneasy, until the grandmother caught sight of Kagome, then turning to her husband.

"Look, the kids are back, so lets just drop it, okay?"

The grandfather sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Good. I still love you, you great oaf," she told him. The man chuckled at this.

"Yeah yeah. Love you too, old hag," he responded in turn, watching a smile grace his wife's lips. Kagome sighed, grateful that it wasn't anything serious.

She left then to see if Inuyasha was still loitering around Sango's house, since she needed to head that direction next. Inuyasha usually mooched lunch off the small family when he and Sango finished sparring. Kagome chuckled at the thought. She knew Inuyasha had a conscience, since he would sometimes bring them over a pheasant to replace the food he had mooched from the family of five previously. She was toying with some of the herbs in her basket, happy to see new wild sprouts in the fields while she walked, but when she got to the house, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"I love you, Sango," she heard Miroku say from behind the door. Something about the words here unsettled her.

'_I love you._' It's a simple phrase, barely a sentence, but what it means for young couples—or even older couples, like the grandparents of the two children she just dropped off—was something special. It was something that created a nice, warm feeling in people when it was said aloud. Even when Inuyasha was having a hissy fit—which, admittedly there had been very few of in recent memory—she could tell him that and watch him physically calm down. Sometimes he would blush or scoff, but it usually stopped his mouth from going off. She had said it a few times and gotten a kiss from him, almost as a reward (was he trying to train _her _like a pup?) so she knew how he felt when she said that simple little phrase to her. She probably felt just as nice when he said it to her…'probably'..?

She couldn't understand what made her pause at first. Then she set a hand on her hip and pondered the issue. Exactly how did Inuyasha saying that to her make her feel? Good surely, but she couldn't remember…wait…

Inuyasha had never—in the entire time that they had been together—been married—told her he loved her!

Kagome frowned. That couldn't be right. They were coming up on their first anniversary, surely by now he had told her that he—

Kagome's brain stalled out before she could finish the thought, overhearing a little too much, then.

"No~o," she heard her friend giggle.

"Stop that…noo…stupid...you just got the girls to sleep…"the rest were just muffled giggles as Kagome pulled her ear away from the door, unaware that she had pressed her face up against it. She blushed bright with embarrassment when she realized how perverted listening in on this probably was…she should just…leave them alone for now…

She ran away from Sango and Miroku's house then, hiding her face in shame. She would feel terrible if someone did what she had just done if it were her and Inuyasha on the inside of the house.

Oh, Inuyasha. That's right. Maybe she should ask him if he remembered ever…well, admitting that he loved his wife. Surely he had, she just couldn't remember it. Right?

* * *

She was a little surprised to find him back near the house, sitting on the forest floor, with a block of wood held between his feet, tearing into it with his claws…what on earth was he doing?

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked hesitantly as she came up on the strange scene. He grunted to acknowledge her presence but said nothing. She tilted her head to the side, noting more wood to Inuyasha's side. She came closer, then drawing her husband's eye as she looked over the…bowls?

"Eh? What are those, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's ears flicked at her words, and he drew his eyebrows together before setting down his current project to pick up one of the little bowls. He handed it up to Kagome and she blinked as she stared at the item. She ran her thumb over the surface of it, taking in the shapes carved into the exterior. They were all geometric, but the level of detail of the carvings, and the smoothness of the surface, without any raw edges was amazing. She lifted the bowl to examine it further, the delicate markings around the rim and base made her think of something that should be in a history museum, an example of an expert craftsman's workmanship. She knew what this situation implied, but certainly her husband had not…? With only his claws?

"Did you make this?" She asked, still thumbing over the pristine carving, searching for any indication of splinters.

"I'm trying to copy the pattern on that one, but I can't get it right," he said holding up the other bowl at his knee. He set it down, and scratched the back of his head, averting his eyes from Kagome's.

"Damn thing warped, so I wanted to try again."

Kagome looked down at her husband, wide eyed. So he had made this? She noted that the bowl she held was a little oblong in shape. She sat in front of Inuyasha, holding the bowl out to him.

"This is really good, Inuyasha!"

He scowled, looking off away from her.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered.

"I really mean it! I didn't expect you to, well…the carvings are so detailed, like someone who had been practicing for decades…when did you start carving wood?"

Inuyasha blinked, looking back to his wife.

"A few months ago. You know, you still have that ugly fucking tanuki statue on the shelf."

"That's the first thing you ever carved?! Inuyasha, I'm serious when I say you have talent!" Her mouth hung open as she looked back down at the little warped bowl. She knew neither one of them could draw, so she just assumed neither had any artistic ability whatsoever, but the geometric designs on this bowl definitely looked good, and if she could see it lacquered and shiny, she was certain it would remind her of the sea. Or the beach, with foamy waves splashing up onto rocks in little zig-zags and swirls. Her rough-and-tumble warrior of a husband had some artistic skills after all.

"Keh, whatever," he said, setting his current project aside for later and turning back to his wife.

"You all done for the day?" He asked, taking the bowl back from Kagome.

Kagome's brows scrunched as she tried to remember exactly why she was out here.

"Ah yeah," she said, when her thoughts came back to her.

"I wanted to ask you a question."

Inuyasha shot her a suspicious glance, but gestured for her to go on, nonetheless.

"Have…um…" she hesitated, clasping her hands together, "Have you ever…um…told me that you love me?"

She watched the hanyou man tense up. His jaw clenched, and he remained quiet, giving Kagome her answer.

"You haven't? We've been married for a while now, how come you haven't said it?"

Inuyasha leaned back on his hands and away from his wife.

"Why would I go saying stupid shit like that…" he mumbled.

Kagome pursed her lips.

"Stupid? How is it stupid? It's love. I tell you I love you all the time."

"Well, it ain't somethin' that—well, it's fine if a girl says it but it ain't the same for me to—"

"Miroku tells Sango he loves her," Kagome interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest. Inuyasha sent her a glare.

"So what? Miroku's Miroku, an' I ain't." His eyes closed then, leaning forward to stand, but Kagome put her hands on his shoulders, encouraging him to sit once again.

"Well, what's the difference? If you love someone, you tell them. You love me, so it shouldn't be so hard to say it." She could feel Inuyasha's body beginning to vibrate with an inaudible growl starting.

"You do love me, right?"

The growl became audible as gold eyes darted back to Kagome's.

"Don't do that, you're being stupid." He crossed his arms in his sleeves and closed his eyes. He sighed, though the sound came out more as a low growl.

"You act like it's an easy fuckin' thing to say like that. I ain't you, and I ain't Miroku, so for me, it ain't."

"You told Kikyo you loved her," Kagome said thoughtlessly, suddenly bitter. She regretted it the instant the words left her mouth, and the next words would have been an apology if Inuyasha hadn't sent her such an angry, pained expression. He crinkled his nose as if he smelled something nasty and his eyes left Kagome's for a second before returning, as his mouth opened to speak.

"As she was dying! I only…god damn. She was dying, so yeah I fucking

'—I told her... She fucking died right there, so…" he trailed off with a growl, and Kagome's hands squeezed against her chest.

"I'm sorry, it didn't mean it like that."

Inuyasha huffed, closing his eyes again.

"I know…But…she had to start dying before I could say a single thing to her. I said it, and then she died so…"

"So you're…hesitant to say you love me…in part because of…" Kagome trailed off. Inuyasha opened one eye, seeing his wife's downturned face. He growled.

"Besides, Kagome. It should be obvious."

Kagome lifted her head.

"What's obvious?"

Inuyasha shook his head.

"I answered your question," he said. Kagome squinted in confusion, before remembering that she had phrased '_you do love me, right?_' as a question.

"That you love me?"

Inuyasha scoffed.

"Dummy. It should be obvious by now."

Kagome smiled, feeling a bit of warmth come to her cheeks then. That was really all she wanted. After all this time, it was obvious in everything Inuyasha did for her, how he was calmed from his moodier days by her words or mere presence, how he kissed and held her…well, she never had questioned how he felt, ever. Even when she knew he was still in love with Kikyo, he loved her as well. It was silly to think that a few words would further embed the thought into her mind. "_It should be obvious_," was more than she needed, and it was exactly what she expected out of Inuyasha. He had never been very good with his words, and she understood that about him. She loved him, and he loved her, whether or not he could say it aloud.

* * *

As Kagome went back to Kaede's for an hour or so, Inuyasha followed her, stretching out in the sun on the old woman's roof. As the hanyou lay relaxing in the rare warmth of the early spring, the conversation in the forest played around in his mind. He really was head-over-heels for the young woman, wasn't he? She was right in saying that she told him she loved him—and often—so laying there he wondered why it really was so difficult for him to vocalize the sentiment. It wasn't like normal, when he had a hard time finding the right words to say, this time he knew what words to use but…she deserved to hear him say it. It wasn't something that came easy. When she brought up Kikyo, he knew that…those words had slipped right off his tongue, without anything holding him back. He was a wreak then, watching her die, and his emotions were haywire...Maybe if he got drunk enough, it would loosen his tongue?

Naw. That was a terrible idea. Although, there were a few things known to loosen the regular constraints he put on himself—the ways he let his guard down. As Kagome wished Kaede well, an idea formed in the hanyou's mind. Maybe it was stupid, but worth a try, he supposed. He kept quiet until after dinner, when Kagome was putting the dishes away, stopping to take a look at the unfinished bowls she had set on the shelf.

"I can't believe you made this, it's really good," Kagome said, mumbling the last bit. She ran her fingertips across the delicate etchings, feeling the roughness of the unfinished patterns. Just mindless geometric patterns, but the workmanship was so intricate that she could tell that a lot of time had been put into the bowl. Her hanyou had made this? She smiled, lifting it to the top shelf of her cabinet.

"What, don't think I'm good enough for that?"

She didn't expect his breath to brush her ear, and she jumped, only to hear a chuckle in reply. Her spike of surprise melted into something warm in her belly as his hands crept along her hips.

"I didn't say th…" she trailed off as her husband's hands pushed inside the open side of her hakama. They paused as he nosed aside her loose braid and lips found her neck, silently asking permission to continue this venture.

"Inuyasha…m'kay," she mumbled, her voice coming out rough and halting. How quickly this man won her over. '_So weak_,' she thought with a note of whimsy. The next conscious thought didn't occur to her until they lay together in a tangled pile of half-undone robes. Inuyasha was glancing below her hips, to the garment she constructed in place of her ripped panties. She was embarrassed to have him see what was essentially a g-string, until a smirk fell upon his lips.

Those ties at her hips looked as if one pull at the end would unravel the knot. His assumption was proven correct when he pulled the loose end until the knot came undone. Kagome stayed remarkably still even as he pointedly met her hazy brown eyes as he pulled the second string loose. They reflected every bit of desire that he felt. He loved getting that look from her. He would love to hurry and roll her onto her belly like he normally did when they were feeling this strongly but…

He had hold of her hips, but he stopped, his brain barely clinging to his purpose for getting into his wife's clothes in the first place. He pushed the front of the garment away, his hands opening her legs up for him as his lips came back to her neck and he began grinding into her.

* * *

It was a great view he always had of her whenever she crawled on top of him. Tonight's show was delightfully vague—tempting—her kosode hanging off her shoulders down to conceal the softest spans of skin on her body, that only he knew the texture, and taste of. The fabric would move when she tipped a little further upright to reveal a little more of the skin to him. If he could keep his head from tipping back every time she repositioned herself that way. He bit the inside of his cheek with a grunt, tipping his head forward again to watch her. His hands slid up her thighs, beneath the fabric. He pushed up to her waist, and she changed her movements to a slow grind against his hips. He looked up when her hands pushed against the center of his chest to see her with that bottom lip between her teeth, staring down at him with those gorgeous brown eyes of hers, hazy and half-lidded.

He squeezed on her ribs when his hands traveled up further, before coming to stroke down her back.

"I do, you know." His words were breathy, and came haltingly. His pretty little wife smiled even as her brow furrowed with confusion.

"Do what?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha smiled, stroking back down to her hips.

"…Love you…"

Kagome blinked, halting her slow movement over him.

"What?" Her voice came out without a note of surprise, simply confusion, as if she hadn't heard him. Inuyasha huffed through his nose.

"I love you."

Ah, there was the surprise. Then came a deep blush, followed by—

"Y-you can't say that during sex!"

Inuyasha shot her a puzzled look of his own, before furrowing his brow with a note of annoyance.

"What?! Why not?"

Kagome gaped for a second.

"You just can't!"

"And I'm asking why!"

"Just—" She grabbed his wrists and pulled them away from her waist, "It's against the rules…"

"What the hell rules are you..?" Kagome shook her head and pushed Inuyasha's hands down, and he allowed her to press them to the floor beneath him, on either side of his head. He allowed her to harmlessly pin him there, as her expression lightened and a smile fell upon his own lips.

"Keh. What rules?"

Kagome bit her lip to keep a smile at bay.

"Just how things are."

"Like how humans only marry humans? Well, we ain't gone by that one, so…" he shifted the hands she held and pushed back up against them, twining his fingers with hers and pushing his forearms up at the elbow. Kagome squeezed her fingers against his hand and sat back up, leaning up on his hands. She chuckled at their position.

"I love you, Inuyasha."

* * *

...

* * *

Sorry I'm so late on the update. Summer got hectic, moving and all that, but I'll be getting back on a regular schedule provided all goes well with school. This one's kind of piecemeal, but I wanted to get it done. I don't think Inuyasha's the type to say "I love you" all that often. Also, where is Aki? Find out next time on Dragon Ba - Little by Little.


	32. Hanabira

**Hanabira**

"No, no, little one," Kagome warned, plucking Ichiro's plump fingers from the fabric of her hakama. She didn't want to knock him over while she was helping Sango string and take down the laundry. Just as Ichiro was starting to whine Kagome had two little brunettes in front of her grabbing the hands of their little brother. Without any prompting the girls walked him away to the patch of grass they had been playing in.

'_Such good children_,' Kagome thought. They still fussed and whined every now and again, but it would seem that both were growing into very contentious children. Sango and Miroku were doing a fine job raising them. Little Ichiro was getting so big, too. His hair was much darker than his sisters' now and he looked very much like a small Miroku, aside from the brown eyes. He was already walking, within the past few days. Not on his own, of course, but he could walk quite a ways with some assistance. The three of them were so cute, the most perfect little children anyone could ask for.

Of course, Kagome was only a sort of aunt to them. Since Inuyasha seemed to have no desire for children of his own, Kagome supposed she would have to make the most of having time with her friend's children. She should really give Miroku and Sango a night off soon. She had wanted to babysit overnight for a while, she would just -

"Kagome?" Sango's voice pulled the young Miko from her musings.

"So what are you going to do about the dog?"

"Oh..." Kagome sighed, folding a length of dry cloth over her arm, "I just have to wait until Inuyasha comes back. What else can I do?"

"Well...I wouldn't worry too much. She's disappeared before, hasn't she?"

Kagome nodded slightly. Yes, there were some nights the dog didn't come back at night, and Kagome always worried about her, but then Inuyasha would track Aki down and bring her back the following day. This time was much longer, though, Kagome conveyed to her friend. Aki had been gone four nights, since Inuyasha and Miroku had suddenly left for a job. She knew there weren't any bears or wolves in the woods at that time that might get ahold of her, but why had she been gone so long? What if she was hurt or scared? What if she was hungry? The poor thing had been so spoiled she probably didn't know how to catch squirrels anymore.

Kagome had asked around the village and no one had seen her. Maybe she had a place she liked to go? When Inuyasha went looking he always spent about the same amount of time carrying her back. Kagome had never bothered to ask where Inuyasha kept finding the little shiba inu, so Kagome didn't have a clue where to start. She was so worried, and on top of that she was lonely. As small a house as it was from what she was used to living in, it was so big and empty without Shippo or Inuyasha or the dog to occupy space and kept her company. It was so quiet at night.

She thought this again as the light began to fade and still no one had seen her little orange dog about. There was still a chill in the spring air, and the thought of sleeping alone seemed to make it worse. Slowly she wondered back in the direction of her house, only to pause as she stepped off the main road onto the narrow path that lead up the hill into the woods. To influence her decision, the wind came through then, twirling the whisps of hair that had escaped her low ponytail, and leading her back onto the road. She travelled for a few minutes before coming up to that familiar house and knocking politely on the door.

Kagome explained truthfully how she felt staying in her house alone, and Sango was obliged to have the young Miko stay the night. She appreciated the (adult) company. Kagome helped Sango get the kids fed and tucked into bed that night, while the two stayed up talking for a few more hours. It really had been a long time since she had had one-on-one time with Sango, and she forgot how much she missed it. Without any chores to do or activities to think of for the children, Sango and Kagome talked about the upcoming summer, the way the leaves were turning that bright green color they both loved. The conversation inevitably came back to children, since Kagome had noted a few more women had become pregnant during the cold season. It would seem they had a lot of upcoming births in the autumn. Ranko should be very close to delivering her baby now, and Kagome planned to check up on her the following day. Haru was beginning to show quite a bit now, she was past halfway into the pregnancy now, and she seemed to be just as healthy and happy as could be.

Sango noticed an odd expression on Kagome's face and a pause as her friend continued on about pregnancies and babies. Sango bit her lip, knowing that there was probably something Kagome was not saying about the topic. It would seem they both had secrets at that point. Sango had…suspected something was up with Kagome and Inuyasha by this point in time. The younger of the women had made it clear to her, at least, that she loved children and had mentioned wanting to start a family with Inuyasha. Then, a few months ago, she had stopped talking about that. It seemed very sudden when before she was so enthusiastic about wanting a baby. Sango wondered if…was everything alright between the two of them? From what Kagome had told her before, Inuyasha seemed upbeat about becoming a father, but what if they had been trying and nothing had come of it? After half a year, she supposed it would get her down, too, but she would not give up hope, as Kagome had seemed to.

The mother of three had so many questions, but given the pleasant way the conversation was actually going, she would rather not ruin it. She kept her questions to herself. It technically wasn't her business to know, but she was curious, so she would ask on a later day.

* * *

Miroku kept up with Inuyasha in silence as they pushed through the brush that had grown into the road. Not many travelers came along from the south, but he didn't expect the road to be this overgrown by now. Parts of the road were pristine, but thorn bushes grew fast and took over other parts. When Miroku stopped, Inuyasha assumed the monk had gotten snagged on something but when he looked back, a concerned expression crossed the monk's face as he stared off down the road from where they had just been.

"We need to go back to that market," the monk declared, "I forgot to get something." He looked back to the hanyou man just to watch his golden eyes roll in irritation. Inuyasha obviously wanted to get home as quickly as possible and backtracking was not in the plan for that.

"No, I need to get some eye makeup for Sango," he said, defending his case, "she's been asking the last three trips and I've forgotten it until now. She'll have my head if I forget it again." Inuyasha growled, but said nothing as the pair turned back around and started towards the market an hour out of the way. Inuyasha had never realized Sango wore makeup until he heard Sango griping at Miroku after forgetting it the last trip. How observant he was. He never noticed, but at that point he had never seen Sango without the eye coloring, so it just became a part of the whole 'Sango' image to him. Of course she wore reddish eye makeup. Or was it magenta?

Those were the questions asked as Inuyasha stood by and Miroku tried to make a decision. Sango preferred a certain shade after all. There were lifted brows by those few unhurried onlookers as they watched the two men—a monk and a demon—at the vendor selling various eye and lip colorings. Inuyasha quickly became annoyed with the feeling of eyes on his back and stepped away from the vendor to the edge of the village. It was the monk's wife, he could make the decision by himself. Inuyasha had his own wife to worry about.

He pulled a thin piece of wood from his sleeve and started to scrape the edges off of the item. Inuyasha knew Kagome was turning twenty some time in the spring—relatively soon—and he wanted to try his hand at making something for her. She had done something nice for him and made him dumplings for his birthday, so he supposed he would return the favor. Of course, the 'something nice' he could easily return if she wanted, but his cooking was mediocre at best so he could do something else to replace that. He had gotten started on this comb the first day he left with Miroku, and all it really needed now was a coat of lacquer but he decided to smooth out the edges a bit. The comb she normally used had a few missing tines. The tines on this one were further apart but they definitely wouldn't break as easily.

Inuyasha heard his name called once and followed Miroku out of the village after he made his decision.

* * *

"Aki!" Kagome called over her husband's shoulder. They had been searching for the little dog since Inuyasha's return, him tracking through the crisscrossing scent pathways through the forest until they landed in a village on the very east edge of Inuyasha's forest. It was past Ranko's village, so despite Kagome having convinced him it was urgent, she stopped in to check in on the pregnant woman. Ranko's sister would be visiting to help with the delivery, which should be in just a few weeks.

Passing through that village, they continued right onto the next, past where Kagome thought the dog might wander, until Inuyasha tracked the dog's scent to one of the huts, and then out into the fields. Inuyasha spotted her, orange and fluffy, near the bottom of a hill. She was on a leash, lead by a young boy, and more well-behaved than Inuyasha had ever seen her on the leash.

"Oh, Aki!" Kagome shouted when she, too, caught sight of the dog. The orange puff of a Shiba lifted her head towards the sound. Her tail started to wag, but then the boy tugged on her leash and they continued down the road. Kagome raised her brow in confusion as she shoved off her husband's back.

"Aki," she said before giving a short whistle.

The dog stalled, looking back towards the Miko. The boy also turned his head then, glancing back at Kagome.

"Uh, hi there," Kagome greeted the boy then.

"You uh, you found our dog. She's been missing a few days, so I'm happy to see you've taken good care of her." Kagome crouched to the boy's level, but noticed his hand tightening on the leash and shooting her a suspicious glare.

"No. This is my dog. Her name is Hanabira."

"Uh...I know you've probably taken care of her, but um..." Kagome pointed back to Inuyasha, "we tracked her from our village, where she got lost, and she is definitely our dog. Right Aki?"

With the last sentence, the dog Yipped in reply, recognizing her name.

"Hanabira," the boy declared sternly, and the dog turned to look back at the boy, starting to wimper in obvious confusion. Suddenly, a clawed hand reached around Kagome and grabbed onto the leash.

"Let's go, Kagome."

"Hey!" The boy cried, digging his heels in and pulling back on the leash against the hanyou with all his might.

"What are you doing! Let go of her!" The boy screeched against the leash.

"What the hell is going on down there?!"

All three turned their heads up to the top of the hill, where a man came running with a garden how in hand.

"Dad! They're going to take Hanabira away!" The boy called up to the man. Inuyasha's grip tightened on the rope leash, but he said nothing nor moved until the man stopped, a mere two meters from him.

"This dog here belongs to Kagome," Inuyasha stated bluntly, tilting his head to indicate the black-haired Miko beside him.

"The hell it is. What makes you think it's your dog?" The man said, glaring down at the hanyou, who only stood two centimeters shorter than the man.

"She went missing, Kagome had me track her scent all the way here. This dog has the exact same scent as hers, so - "

"Nononono. This is **my** dog. You're confused."

"Kagome found her about four or five months back, when she was just a pup, and I think that's more than the time needed to claim ownership over a dog," Kagome twisted her hands nervously, but remained quiet as she watched her husband speak, remarkably calm for him.

The man ran a hand down his face, taking a deep breath.

"Okay, yeah. The dog went missing about then, and we thought she'd gotten herself eaten by a bear, but she was my dog first. I picked her out specifically for my son, as the best in the litter, so you can't just say she's yours," he turned his gaze to the Miko for that last bit, "just because she wandered over to you. I mean. . You're telling me in five months, you never once checked for a collar?"

"I...I saw the collar but I couldn't find the owner right away so..." Kagome started.

The man raised a brow.

"So you saw a dog with a collar, that somebody obviously put on the dog, yet you claim that it belongs to you? I made that collar myself. The same type I make for all my dogs, ain't none made quite like it in musashi." The collar Inuyasha had first noticed with red banding within the tan strands of rope had only been a topic of discussion within the first days after finding the dog and actively looking for the owner. They had never searched this far out when they were looking for the owner. Never thought the little dog would make it so far from home, so Inuyasha had never bothered. That and he saw how quickly his wife had become attached to the little Shiba, he really couldn't tell her to get rid of the dog.

"Whatever," Inuyasha started, a low growl beginning in his throat, "that dog has been in my village for almost half her life, and lemme tell ya. One of the stupidest dogs I have ever met, but Kagome likes 'er and has been taking care of her all this time. Don't you think that means nothin'?"

"I don't care if she is a stupid pup, she was out of my brother's dog, picked out for my boy. She came back to us this last week and came right up to him, carrying on like she had as a pup. Remembered him. She's my dog. His dog." he said, sternly, unfazed by the growling hanyou. Inuyasha glanced down to where the boy had let go of the leash, now with his arms wrapped around the dog defensively, the dog looking up at the two men, utterly confused by the situation.

"He loved that dog. Broke his heart when she ran off, you can't just take her away from him again, can you? She's part of our family, gets a second chance to _be_ part of our family."

"Look, that still doesn't change the fact that -"

Inuyasha felt fingers wrapped around the hand which held the leash. He looked down to see Kagome unfurling his fingers without looking at him. Her gaze was still directed down to the little boy, his face buried in the confused dog's orange fur.

"What are you doing?" Inuyasha hissed to his wife.

"Let's go."

The man sighed.

"Thank goodness," the man muttered before raising his voice to a normal level again.

"Miko-sama, I am sorry for any confusion. You understand, right?" The man's demeanor had changed completely when Inuyasha's fingers released the rope, standing back to give Kagome the most bewildered expression.

Kagome nodded.

"Well. Inuyasha of the forest, I presume? You two had better head back to the forest before the night chill comes on."

"What? What the - we ain't leavin'! Not without -"

"Inuyasha." Kagome's voice was clipped and direct. He looked up to Kagome as she let out a sigh with a slight smile. A fake smile.

"Let's go home, okay?"

"But -"

"Inuyasha."

* * *

Inuyasha didn't say a word after that, not even as Kagome climbed onto his back and he picked up speed before nightfall. When he let her down outside of their house, he was slow to follow her inside. Only when her voice reached his ears did he huff and push through the entry.

"What do you want for dinner?"

"Why the hell'd you do that?"

Kagome sighed.

"Straight rice and vegetables it is," she muttered in return. He followed her steps to the counter, shaking his head.

"You loved that dog. Why the hell'd you just…let it go?"

"It…It wasn't my dog," Kagome said the rice pot as she reached for it. She stood on her toes to get the big spoon, remembering, as she fumbled to reach it, that Inuyasha had put it away the last time. A hand was on her shoulder then, and tan fingers wrapped around the spoon to take it off the hook. Kagome frowned up at her husband as he pushed the spoon into her grasp.

"The hell it wasn't, Kagome. You had that dog over half her life, so what if she remembered those people. It was your dog."

"Inuyasha," she said, with a clipped chuckle, "you don't even like dogs."

"Ah, for fuck's sake—"

"When she followed me home, we knew she had an owner, but we never did spend very much time looking for them. I was so stupid, she followed me home from checking in on Ranko, in that direction at least, I never even bothered to check beyond this village. When we got to Aki's old village today, and I met those people…I felt like I stole her. I stole her from those people, from that little boy."

"What the fuck, Kagome. Don't try to twist this."

"I'm not. I'm just saying, she'll probably be happier there. I just, I don't know."

"Oh please," Inuyasha muttered, running a hand through the front of his hair, "you spoiled that damn dog. What could be better than that?"

Kagome twisted her sleeves.

"Well...we're always too busy to play with her. I've only gotten to play fetch with her a few times." The first game of fetch had been cut short when Inuyasha became upset when he had reflexively chased after the stick more than once.

"You have your duties protecting the forest, and going out with Miroku and I have mine as a Miko. Aki...Hanabira...will do best with a little boy to chase after and play with. Sure, sometimes I babysit children, but it isn't the same as having regular playtime with a little kid. A cute dog like that belongs with...a family..."

Inuyasha frowned deeply as a cold spot began to form on the back of his neck. So...that's... Why did it always come back to this? Inuyasha became quiet then, watching as his wife left him to change her clothes and start preparing dinner. He wanted to tell her that _they _were a family. However small.

When she sat down again for dinner, Inuyasha met her eyes again.

"I was kinda starting to like that stupid dog, you know."

"Inuyasha..."

"Shippo got along with her too."

Kagome sighed.

"I know. But...Shippo is...well on his way to becoming a top-notch fox demon. He even said that he wanted to make his own little burrow in the forest. I just... I made the wrong choice, didn't I?" Kagome stared down into her bowl blinking to avoid tearing up about the situation. Aki - Hanabira - had a home that...just wasn't shared with her anymore. Her. Inuyasha... _Shippo._ God, she never even thought about Shippo.

"Maybe," Inuyasha said. Kagome lifted her head to look at her husband, stuffing his mouth with rice, eyes closed. He swallowed and spoke again.

"Maybe it _was_ the wrong choice, but it's done and over with now. Shouldn't worry too much about it...'sides. I never really did like dogs. Too needy. Cats though. Cats pretty much take care of 'emselves."

Kagome raised a brow.

"What?"

"There's bound to be a pregnant cat or two in the village. Sure someone'll let us have a kitten. Legitimately. Be ours and no one else's."

Kagome twisted her face in confusion, looking at her dear husband as if he had sprouted another head.

"What? I know _you _like cats."

Kagome shook her head again, brow knit.

"Inuyasha wha...wha?"

He shrugged.

"Too soon?" He asked, almost playful, though he was actually hesitant, watching how his wife might react.

Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Too soon." Kagome sighed, but couldn't help the small smile that tugged on the edges of her lips.

"I'm gonna miss that dog."

"Yeah, well." Inuyasha stuffed his mouth with more vegetables.

* * *

...

* * *

Before anyone hates me, this basically happened to me over the summer. When we moved into our house, Neighbourly already lived in the back yard. She was a real sweetheart, and for eight years we fed her and gave her a box to sleep in in the winter, but we couldn't take her in because he didn't get along with our other cats. We couldn't give her all the love and attention she deserved. Then she got picked up by our shelter. We visited her there, but within the week she found a new home, my mom actually met the couple and their little girl as they were adopting her and we knew she would have a good home with all the love and warmth she deserved.

Well. Aki was never going to be permanent to this story, but instead of killing hhat sweet little dog, because let's face it, I am a softie. When this happened to tail I just decided to come back around to the collar I mentioned with her introduction. Also...life happens. I am not going to promise swift updates because life has given me some twists you may know about if you follow my tumblr.

Hanabira means petals or something I was naming at random.


End file.
